#this could all probably be explained so much better but it’s 6 am and I’m tired

[indefiniteavatar]

So basically, in a case about him shoving money at someone so they shut up about him. . .he can’t shut the fuck up himself. I would say something clever and funny here, except the sad part is that this is just so normal in current politics that it’s just. . .not hilariously absurd behavior anymore? Not to say that it’s not absurd - it is beyond such, but it is just. . . predictable, I suppose.

I guess this is how I feel about politics lately? Either I get mad at everything or I try to laugh at everything and normally that works because politicians usually aren’t so tragically stupid so very often, but now I just kinda have to chuckle at the particularly eyeroll worthy things like this, and try to ignore everything else or my brain will explode.

[steelandscience]

I have thought about this so much, because Viktor being spotlighted so frequently in the trial scene is just so interesting. I think part of it is partly just foreshadowing that This Character Is Going To Be Important, of course, but I do think there’s more.

There’s a couple really great ways you can read their early pre-journal-stealing-Viktor interactions, but I think my favorite is just… ego.

It’s one thing that the arcane versions of Jayce and Viktor very much have in common with their League counterparts (if you see them as separate). We definitely see bits if Jayce’s ego throughout the show, from the way he is fine with playing along with Heimer’s advice in the trial until they start calling him an incompetent failure of a scientist, to the bits of preening and social prowess he shows as he gets rebranded as the Man of Progress. A lot of Jayce’s character conflict stems from the fact he knows he is right about Hextech/magic, but he either cannot get other people to see that, or he cannot reconcile his own vision with Hextech’s place in the real world.

However, Viktor is just as confident and egotistical as Jayce.

This is a man who beat the odds of his birth and absolutely believes he is one of the smartest— if not the smartest— in the room at all times. This is a man who is happy to work on illegal, experimental projects because he knows he is smart enough to figure it out. He’s even confident enough to do it twice in the show, once with Hextech and once with Shimmer! I think Arcane Viktor is certainly tempered with a lot of empathy and a clear drive for survival as opposed to his League counterpart, but he is just as concerned with Legacy and scientific success as Jayce, Heimerdinger, and Singed are— it’s just that they view that success in different ways.

(I’d like to add that I personally prefer to think of Jayce and Viktor in Arcane as a proto-League version of themselves, with the League lore that currently exists.)

So my favorite way to read the scenes where Viktor gets Jayce arrested is simply that it’s not about Jayce in particular, but that Viktor simply thinks he’s a better scientist. Viktor came from very little and already succeeded “beyond his beginnings”, he knows he is consistently smarter than most of the graduates in the Academy, and he already has some beliefs on how Heimerdinger himself is wrong. He will happily go on to challenge Mel and the ideas of power and law in Piltover repeatedly. So it’s not about Jayce, but about the fact that Jayce is yet another scientist who got in over his experimental pay grade, and Viktor gets to watch another rich Piltovan university student realize they aren’t actually all that great. He did have a presupposed image of Jayce, even if it wasn’t about Jayce Talis in particular— though it could have been, because we know from Jayce’s Journal in the league client event circa 2021 that Jayce was failing most of his classes because he was obsessively working on Hextech, and that Heimerdinger was worried about him. Maybe Viktor even knew that before he walked into Jayce’s ruined apartment.

Jayce failed. Publicly and catastrophically. Viktor would never.

And I think it isn’t until he hears what Jayce was trying to do that Viktor realizes how alike he and Jayce are. He wasn’t some failing rich kid who got in over his head; he’s a sponsored student willing to push the boundaries of experimental and illegal science and magic in the name of progress. It’s easy for Viktor to switch to needing to work with this man because he realizes Jayce isn’t stupid, that Jayce has very similar goals to Viktor right now, and that Jayce is also every bit as insane as Viktor is in his pursuit of progress. Suddenly Viktor realizes he may not be the smartest in the room, just like Jayce realizes he might not be the only one smart enough and ballsy enough to create Hextech. They match each other, and continue to match each other, in brilliance, drive, and ego for the better part of a decade. Even in League, they met at an Academy party and bonded over the fact that they hated being there and how they were both so much smarter than anyone else in the room.

Obviously we don’t know how they will fall apart in Arcane S2 (I have so many theories but we will see soon enough). But in League, their egos are also a massive part of why they fall out, but continue to be almost single-mindedly obsessed with the other person for the rest of their lives. They are the only person who matched each other’s intellect, goals, and drive for years, and even though Piltover and Zaun are filled with brilliant people, they never really care about anyone else besides their old partner. I think a big part of that is that each of them, respectively, believes the other hurt their own pride and ego in an unforgivable way, so they are going to spend the rest of their life making it the other person’s problem.

Hi why did Viktor seem almost glad that Jayce was being arrested and put on trial in ep 2?

Like…he has this haughty, kind of contemptuous attitude towards Jayce throughout the episode until after the trial—when he realizes that Jayce’s research on magic may be something worth looking into.

But BEFORE that, when Jayce’s apartment is being searched, everything about Viktor’s demeanor seems to indicate that he’s putting Jayce below himself. When Jayce expresses distress about the situation, Viktor responds with sarcasm or nonchalance: “I believe someone should have said that earlier.” and then when prompted he introduces himself not as a person, but by describing his position: “I’m assistant to the dean of the Academy, who it may serve you to remember is also head of the Council.”

He seems glad to hand Jayce over to the enforcers and does so with a SMILE, and later in the episode when Jayce walks into the Council room for his trial, there’s this lingering shot of Viktor smirking at him as he passes!! And it’s 1000% on purpose—Viktor’s the only character besides Jayce (in a crowd of people, mind you!) who’s fully lit up in that shot.

It’s like the writers wanted to clearly convey that Viktor had a “you’re getting what you deserve” mentality towards Jayce, which is odd considering Viktor’s characterization after the trial is nothing but amicable towards Jayce throughout the rest of Act 1 before it turns into fondness over the rest of the season.

So…if this haughty attitude towards Jayce was put there on purpose and not just as an introduction to the smartass counterpart to Jayce’s optimistic charm, then why does Viktor have such contempt for Jayce if they don’t even know each other?

see this is why we need a novelization or at very least the published script because i wanna know what these characters were thinking

[fullsunstrawberry]

NCT Reaction:

Sitting on their lap during car ride

MINORS DNI!!

warning** smutty

a/n: Happy Valentines, here some smutty reactions 😍this is literally one of my favorite smut trope btw ^ ^

{dreamie masterlist}

Mark:

he could not believe this was happening to him

Mark made the mistake of telling Johnny that he started to have feelings for you

He told Jonny because he always tells Johnny everything!

But Johnny already knew mark had a crush on you. It’s not his fault Mark is just so easy to read.

He knew Mark wouldn’t do anything about it so he had to do something 🫣

Johnny’s plan was simple, force you two to be close.

You and Mark didn’t bat an eye when Johnny suggested a small road trip

What you didn’t expect was there to be only 6 seats and 7 people.

Johnny was driving and Jaehyun was already in the passager seat. Doyoung, Taeyong, and Jungwoo already called dibs on the middle row.

That means you and Mark had to squish yourselves into the small back seat of the car. 

You’re probably thinking, the backseat is enough for two people to sit in!

Not when Johnny insisted on putting the two connected seats down to fit his huge cooler.

“Where am I supposed to sit” You questioned raising your eyebrow at Johnny.

“I’m not moving my cooler, so better hurry up and get comfortable on Mark’s lap” Johnny insisted, pushing you towards the car.

Once you were somewhat comfortable on Mark’s lap you decided to put some headphones on and rest your head on Mark’s shoulder. Quickly falling to sleep.

You woke up to Mark lightly shaking your shoulder.

“Johnny decided to stop at a rest stop, do you need to use the bathroom?”

You looked around noticing all the guys have left the car. You turn your body to look at Mark when you notice he was blushing. You didn’t realize why until you moved to get up. Stopping when you felt something touch your butt.

Quickly you sat back down on Mark, which resulted in a moan.

Shocked you looked at Mark, he had his eyes closed and his lip between his teeth.

Without saying another word you moved your hips

Which resulted in another moan from Mark.

“We don’t have much time please keep moving” Mark groans putting his hands on your hip to help you move faster.

Renjun:

Renjun was surprised when you sat on his lap and started to explain there was no room left.

This is really surprising to him because why did you pick him? You were a lot closer with other members.

But hey, hes not complaining!

Even the other members were surprised to see you on Renjun’s lap.

“I’m not sitting on any of you guys’ laps! You’re all perverts!” you waved your finger at all of them.

Jaemin started to laugh, which made all the other members laugh too.

You turned your face towards renjun. “You’re the best choice out of all of them”.

The car ride was calm up until the driver wanted to take a short cut. Which meant taking a dirt road.

Once the first bump hit, you felt renjun’s arms tighten around your waist.

You wiggled your body a little bit because you started to fall off of him.

“Please stop moving” Renjun whimpered

Your eyes widened when you felt why he wanted you to stop moving.

You started to hear a small giggle from behind you.

“I’m a man y/n, I can’t help it!”

You looked around the car to see if anyone was watching you two.

 Luckily all of them were either asleep or had headphones on.

You then turned back around putting your lips near renjun’s ear

“I knew you were a perv” you whispered, lightly grinding down on him.

Jeno:

He thought you and Haechan had something going on. So when there weren’t enough seats in the car, he thought it was obvious. You were going to sit on Haechan’s lap. 

When you were shoved onto his lap, he was beyond confused. 

“You’re making my legs hurt!” Haechan whined. 

“I’m sorry, he didn’t even ask if you were okay with me sitting on your lap.” You apologized putting your head into his chest because you were embarrassed. 

This made Jeno giggle. “ I don’t mind.” 

When about 5 minutes passed of Jeno showing you funny pictures on his phone, Haechan sighed “Okay, my legs are better.” while grabbing your arm to pull you back on him. 

But you shooed his hand away

“I said my legs feel better now.” Haechan pouted, pulling you off Jeno. 

Instead of letting Haechan pull you back, you pulled your arm out of his grip and fell back into Jeno’s lap. 

As you landed you heard a low groan, Jeno lifted his head and quickly looked around to make sure no one else heard it. 

Thankfully no one but you heard it. 

Haechan huffed out a small ‘fine’ before turning away from you two. 

You brought your lips to Jeno’s ear “did I hurt you?” You whispered. 

“yes, but it felt so good..” 

You positioned yourself better on his lap. 

your eyes widened and your face grew red when you noticed a certain problem in his pants.  

“I’m sorry.” Jeno hid his face in your neck. 

As you were about to respond, the driver pulled into a small gas station. 

You leaned down to whisper in Jeno’s ear once more. “Let’s go fix that problem.”

Jeno’s eyes widened and he let out a small “please!”

Haechan:

You weren't really close to any of the 127 members. Only knowing them because you were friends with Haechan and the Dreamies.

When Haechan heard Taeyong wanted to have a road trip to a camping sight he found, he automatically asked if you could go since some members already said they didn’t want to go. 

Taeyong at first said no because it was supposed to be a group bonding thing. But when Doyoung brought up the fact Haechan wouldn’t annoy them as much with you there, Taeyong quickly told Haechan to invite you.

You were excited to get closer to the 127 members and spend the time camping with Haechan. 

After your roommate dropped you off at the guys' dorm, you quickly said your goodbyes. Turning to Haechan helping Johnny pack the car with stuff. 

“Hope you know we only have a few tents, so we have to share a tent.” Haechan shot you a wink. 

“Maybe I should just go back home.” You joked. 

“Noooo” Haechan whined, you shot him a playful wink back and moved to hand him your bag so he can find a spot to put it. 

You noticed all the seats beside the one in the back and the front seat open. Assuming the front seat is for Johnny, you were confused. 

“Umm why is there only one seat left?” you questioned furrowing your eyebrows.

“Guess we're not only sharing a tent today!” Haechan joked. 

Rolling your eyes you waited for him to sit down. 

You were already regretting coming. 

Once the drive started, it wasn’t that bad. 

What you didn’t know was Haechan was fighting himself. 

He felt like he had a little devil and angel on his shoulder. One tells him to pull you closer and the other one tells him not to risk it. 

But he didn’t care what his angel was telling him, already snaking his arms around you to pull you closer. 

You jolted in shock. Making Haechan let out a small groan. 

Once you realized he was being a horny bastard you decided to tease him. Rubbing yourself into him.

He grabbed your hips to help you move a little faster. When you randomly stopped. resulting in him letting out a small whine. 

“If you be good and wait I’ll stay in a tent with you.”

Jaemin:

When there weren’t any more seats available, Jaemin offered to share his seat.

You thanked him and placed yourself on his lap.

You knew you messed up when you looked at Jeno and he winked while moving his eyebrows up and down.

You turned your attention back to Jaemin when he took his right arm and wrapped it around your waist.

He then took his phone out of his pocket to watch tiktoks, while resting his head on your shoulder.

The car ride wasn’t bad at all, it was filled with different conversations and laughter.

It wasn’t until a certain bump in the road made you hyper-aware of your position on Jaemin

You felt something poking at your butt. You turned to Jaemin and started to giggle.

“What’s poking me?” you whispered, not wanting all eyes to be on you two

“oh sorry it’s just my phone” He laughed turning to look around the car.

“Jaemin, your phone is in your hand..”

He starts to laugh again “what do you want me to say y/nnnn” he whined.

You decided to test the waters, grinding your body slowly into Jaemin. 

Jaemin reached under your skirt, silently thanking the fact you brought a small blanket to cover your legs. 

“You’re playing a dangerous game y/n.” 

Chenle:

Ten invited you and Chenle to hang out. 

It was a little awkward because they were catching up and you felt out of place, wondering why you were invited in the first place.

Well, Ten knew Chenle had the biggest crush on you but was a coward. 

So he decided to help Chenle without him knowing. 

Once you all finished your food, Ten asked if you’d ever been to the new museum that just opened up. 

He was shocked (Not really) when you and Chenle both have never gone. 

Insisting you all go right now!

The problem? You and Chenle walked and Ten drove a two-seater car.

You told Ten that you could always go another day, but Ten whined about not knowing when his next vacation was.  

Chenle already got into the car and motioned you to sit on his lap. 

“Fine, just make sure you don’t get into an accident.” You shot Ten a glare. 

Ten laughed before getting into the driver's seat. 

The drive was nice, up until Ten started to show off how fast his car can go. 

Forcing Chenle to hold you in a tighter grip and closer to his body. 

“Hold on” Ten quickly said. Starting to go even faster, pushing your body into Chenle’s. 

You felt something twitch but you did have much time to speak because Ten was taking a sharp turn causing you to grab to the car door. 

“ We’re here!” Ten smiled while parking and then getting out of the car. 

You turned to look at Chenle, but his eyes were closed and he let out a whisper of small curses. 

You turn your head to look for Ten, noticing he was nowhere to be seen. 

Turning your head back to Chenle, you smiled “I think you enjoyed that a little too much.” You laughed nodding your head down at his now-tight jeans. 

“Thank god Ten has tinted windows,” Chenle spoke before grabbing your face and pulling you in a rough kiss. 

Jisung:

There wasn’t enough room for everyone to fit into the van.

You offered to order a Uber or a Lyft but since Jisung invited you he felt guilty. Offering to give up his own seat for you.

You told him it was fine and he didn’t have to give up his seat

But since he didn’t want to take no for an answer, you pushed him back into his seat and sat on his lap.

You made sure there was room in between, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

You turned to Jisung and his face was bright red. That’s when you heard a bunch of whistles.

(he grew up around guys so this is the most action he has ever got)

You gave the other members a glare. “oh shut up, aren’t you all supposed to be adults!”

The ride was a little awkward because Jisung didn’t really say anything unless he was spoken too

This was fine but even when you started talking to him, he only gave you short responses.

Once the driver took a sharp turn, you grabbed onto Jisung’s thigh to keep you in place.

You turned to apologize but instead, you heard a quiet moan.

You were shocked when you repositioned yourself on his lap.

He had a little…big… problem

Before you could say anything the car stopped and everyone started to get out of the car.

You turned to Mark and spoke with an innocent smile “Jisung and I are going to stop at the convenience store first, don’t wait up!”

Once everyone was out of the car, Jisung spoke up “Please start moving again”

[filmbyjy]

MINESTREAM

SYPNOSIS > Wanting to start a new stream series with his best friends, Jay had a bright idea of playing some simple Minecraft with them. Everything was normal, until he realises there is another person in the call with them. He quickly learns that it was ni-ki’s older sister, (name). Watch how streaming a simple game of Minecraft can dig up some interesting feelings between the main leads.

TWENTY-TWO – his lips looks soft

a/n: the day I see jay ever taking off his shirt in front of thousands of people, is the day I am dead👍🏻

MASTERLIST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

somehow you find yourself in bed after accidentally falling asleep after lunch. you didn’t even know how you got here but at least you didn’t wake up with a painful neck and back.

you had rolled out of bed, it was dark out. you’ve probably slept for a total of at least 5-6 hours. best sleep in a couple of months you’ve had. your throat felt dry so you had decided to walk over to the kitchen. when you finally stepped off the stairs, you noticed the light was turned on. the aroma of something savoury fills the air.

someone stood shirtless in the kitchen as he stirs up the food. when he turns around, you realised it was jay.

…

WAIT IT WAS JAY???

you tripped on something and fell face first onto the marble floor. jay goes over quickly and helps you up and makes sure you’re okay.

“are you okay? any pain on your ankle? face? arms?” he asks quickly.

“i-i’m fine. just didn’t see the-” you had inspected the item you had tripped on. it was a doggy toy. you and ni-ki did not have a dog and as far as you knew…the 3 boys didn’t either.

jay looks over to where you staring. “ah, jake’s parents dropped his dog over earlier. since, this apartment allows dogs, jake wanted to keep his dog with him as close as possible.”

“oh.”

“I’ll warn jake about the dog toys.” you hummed. you had tried to stand up but a sharp pain stung your ankles. you groaned at the pain.

without a word, jay lifts you up and carries you over to the sofa. he places you gently onto the cushions and goes over to find an ice pack and also any oils/medicine for your ankles. once he’s done, he kneels right in front of your legs and gently lifts up the ankle that was hurt.

“ah.” you winced a little as jay puts some oil and lightly massages the area. he looks up at you once and apologises before taking his massaging much more lighter than before.

“it’s definitely twisted and swollen. just need to put an ice pack and let the swelling get better.” he places your ankle onto a pillow and puts the ice pack on it. “there, now sit there and- oh fuck, the food.” jay hastily runs back to the kitchen.

after a few sounds of clatter from the kitchen, jay emerges with the food he was previously working on. he places the bowl down in front of you. “there, we go. you didn’t have dinner yet so I thought of bringing this upstairs but you came down instead.”

the food looked really good. you didn’t think you’d be able to try jay’s food. “thank you.” before you could even lift the chopsticks, jay stops you and feeds you. he doesn’t forget to blow on the hot noodles.

you seemed to have forgotten that he was literally sitting in front of you half-naked. or maybe you didn’t, you just chose to pretend he was wearing a shirt.

“how is it?” jay asks as you chewed on the noodles.

“it’s good.”

“that’s great, it’s my mom’s recipe so this pretty much reminds me of my childhood. the smell especially.”

“then why aren’t you eating it?”

“oh, I ate it just now with the others. I just made it again for you since you were asleep just now.”

“oh…you could have woken me up when you were eating dinner with the rest. now, I feel guilty that you have to make it the second time.” you huffed.

“no, it’s really okay. i don’t mind making it again. after all, I’d like to take it as if it’s practice for cooking. the more you cook, the better you get.” jay explains. with jay’s words, you couldn’t help but pout. “don’t pout.” he taps your lips lightly with the chopsticks.

“okay. can i have another bite now?” you looked at him straight in the eyes. jay laughs.

“sure.” he picks up the noodles and blows it again before letting you eat it.

30 minutes later, neither you or jay realised the footsteps coming towards the both of you. it was clear there was a tension between the both of you as you two interacted. the person was clearly witnessing it. another footstep trails behind the person and comes to a halt.

*smack* “ow!” jake silently yells when sunghoon’s palm comes into contact with jake’s face. “what was that for?” he asks in a whisper.

“look.” sunghoon points out to jake. the shorter male peaks behind the wall and notices you and jay.

“it’s just (name) and jay interacting?”

“just interacting? do you see jay? he’s shirtless.” sunghoon says. jake rolls his eyes.

“we’re boys, obviously we’d be shirtless whenever we can. besides, you know jay likes to walk around the house shirtless.” jake glares at sunghoon.

“yeah but (name) doesn’t mind it. that’s the first girl that has seen jay shirtless.”

“but it’s not like he’s fucking her.” jake whisper yells.

just as sunghoon turns back to watch you and jay, he realises that the distance between the both of you was practically shorten in a minute. he smacks jake once more and gets him to look at what was happening in front of them.

jay leans in and so do you. it was about to happen, you were going to kiss jay. after what? 22 chapters? finally.

that is until…Layla, jake’s dog, comes running in. jake tries to catch her but ultimately falls onto the ground. the loud boom causes both you and jay to pull away from each other. both of your heads spun over in the direction of the sound.

“uh, hello.” sunghoon says. instantly, your face flushed. you’ve never felt this embarrassed being almost caught kissing someone. jay clenches his fist and stands up to go over to the two boys. he pulls them away to speak to them in private.

once they were out of the living room, you had hid your face behind your hands and groaned. you couldn’t even get up and go back to your bedroom since your ankles were injured. you just had to sit there and do nothing until jay came back. however, did you really have to wait for anyone to hide away from your embarrassment?

and so you grabbed the couch and tried to stand up on your feet. hopefully, you didn’t put too much pressure on the ankle that was swollen. you had hopped over to the stairs and attempted to jump up each step. until jay swoops and effortlessly scoops you up.

“where do you think you’re going?” he asks as he climbs the stairs with you in his arms.

“umm, to my room.”

“you could’ve called me or the boys to carry you up.”

“you three seemed to be having a heartfelt conversation so I didn’t want to disturb.”

he brings you over to your room and places you right on your bed, “not without someone to help you up the stairs. I already told you that your ankles are swollen, you can’t put much pressure on.”

“I know but-” “no, buts.” jay cuts in while you were talking. he tucks you into bed.

“now, I think you should try to sleep this off until morning. luckily, it’s still the weekends. it should get better by tomorrow or the day after just before you go to your morning classes.”

you huffed in defeat. jay pats your head and leaves your bedroom. you laid on your bed and closed your eyes. it was definitely an eventful day but you knew you wouldn’t be able to get some sleep. not after nearly kissing jay.

god, his lips looked soft.

you grabbed a pillow and squealed into it. you had to tell Yvette everything that happened the next morning. for now, you should at least try to sleep again.

well…at least.

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[denial-permanente]

Hey how are you? Big fan of your page and content. At the beginning of this year I confessed to my girlfriend of 6 years that I have a chastity fetish and I wanted her to lock my member up while we had our “fun time”. Surprisingly she was very open to the idea and we soon incorporated a chastity cage into our sex life. It has been amazing. It has opened a new side to me that I never knew existed. It took a bit of getting used to for the both of us but over time we have come to adore it. A majority of the time we have sex now my girlfriend instructs me to put my cage on before we begin.

A couple of weeks ago I brought up the idea of wearing the chastity cage for a longer period of time rather than only during our fun time. She interested with the idea but she believed it impossible.

For a little bit of context, we live together but due to work I’m only home from Friday nights when I get off of work till Monday mornings when I have to leave for work again.

Knowing this my girlfriend had quite a handful of concerns.

1. Her absolute biggest concern was she believed there was no way I could properly clean myself down there while locked in a cage. She says that wearing the cage for longer than a few hours at a time would be extremely de-hygienic and nasty.

2. Her next biggest concern is that since we only really see each other 2 days a week she thinks that there’s too much time between us seeing each other. “what if you NEED to get the cage off on a Monday, like an incident happens at work but we’re nowhere near each other and you have to wait all the way till Friday when you see me again?”

Because of this concern I tried to negotiate with what if I wore it during the weekends when I’m home. But then she rebuttals with “you basically already do so what difference would it make?”

3. A smaller concern for her is she is uncertain of the risks that come with wearing a chastity cage for long periods of time. An example she said was “what if you wore the cage for too long and your dick started to shrink?” I tried to tell her that that was just a myth but she seemed pretty adamant.

I guess my question is do you have any advice on what to do in this type of situation? Any words of wisdom that I could tell her in order to ease her mind about this? She says she would love to at least give it a try but she’s far too concerned about all the things that could go wrong. She says she thinks wearing a chastity cage for longer periods of time is just too unrealistic and isn’t possible.

It’s something that I’d love to do so should I try to talk to her about it again or just give up on the idea?

Believe it or not, I am probably like your girlfriend in that I worry about the practical aspects. For a very long time I would worry about what if my husband had an accident, or what if he had to remove it and didn't have the key. Even now, 25 years later I still sometimes worry if I know he's doing something dangerous like working on the roof or hiking in the woods or something. All I can say is that those concerns eventually get less and less concerning as time goes on and wearing a cage becomes second nature to the both of you.

I will let @that-tom-allen answer the part about hygiene and shrinkage, but in all these years that has never been a problem. I'm sure he can explain it better. I can tell you that I don't ever remember him having any issues.

A lot of men seem to want to rush into being lockedn24/7. Your girlfriend is being cautious and concerned. If she has a Tumblr account please have her message me for questions or even just moral support.

🔏 Tom here. First, as @mrs--edge wrote, if possible have your gf drop by to ask her soenof these questions directly. You can create an account for her, she doesn't need to be posting anything. Actually, considering some of the chastity related material on Tumblr, maybe you don't want her looking at too much. 😏

I don't know what kind of cage you have. My routine is to shower at night, and let things air dry. Then in the morning I put a dab of Gold Bond cream inside and swab it around with a Q tip. The cream is water soluble and will pick up body oil, sweat, stray urine, etc., and will wash out easily in a hot shower.

It also helps to have a tiny brush to swab around some soapy water inside the cage during your shower. I almost never need to unlock my cage to clean.

Now, about the shrinkage. I have a post on here about that. Check the FAQ for more detail, but here's the quickie: shrinkage is a myth, usually written about by guys who have SPH fetishes. The penis is not a muscle, and does not atrophy like muscle. It is mainly a meat hydraulic tube of connective tissue and blood vessels. Shrinkage is mainly a factor of the hydraulic balloons not having a chance to stretch out. Removing the cage and getting a few days of, err, healthy exercise should be sufficient to bring things back to size.

[callsign-muffin]

Heal Together: Chapter 6

(Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw fic)

Sorry this chapter took much longer than usual. I wasn't sure if I wanted to share this on the page but y'all might already know... I'm a nurse. So my schedule is nice because I only work 3 days or nights a week but... sometimes those days/nights knock me on my ass. This week was no exception.

I really appreciate every single person who has liked, reblogged, and commented on my work. It means EVERYTHING to me. I hope you all enjoy this part!

Masterlist + Playlist

Word Count: 2.2k+

You had been flipped to nights this week and your body was suffering from the sudden change to your circadian rhythm. You and Carly walked to the parking garage in exhausted silence together as the sun rose over the hospital. It was a hard night to say the least, you both were assigned to unstable elderly patients that seemed to be circling the drain. It almost felt cruel to keep them from dying peacefully because there was no way they were ever going to get better. The life sustaining care you were forced to give was just prolonging the inevitable. Your phone buzzed in your pocket, Bradley tried to text you when he woke up at 5am for work to ask how your shift was going. You quickly responded that it was crazy and that you couldn’t talk until you got off at 7:30.

Bradley Bradshaw: Please tell me you’re out of there and able to see this incredible sun rise

You: I am, thank God! I love San Diego sunrises

“Who’s that?” Carly peered over at your phone and saw the name, “Oh my god! He’s checking in on you post shift?!”

You rolled your eyes, “It’s his second time checking in on me, he texted me when he got up earlier but I said things were too crazy on the unit to talk.”

“What happened between you two then?” She asked, “You said he didn’t stay the night or anything.”

You knew she was going to ask for more information soon enough. You two were on your feet caring for your patients all night so there was no time to catch up at the nurse’s station. “He didn’t. But we hung out for a while, talked, drank a lot of wine, and he couldn’t drive himself home. So he took an Uber and then took me to brunch when he came to pick up his car.”

“He didn’t kiss you?” She asked.

You shook your head, “Nope, didn’t after brunch either.”

“Huh,” she looked puzzled, “He’s obviously so into you, we could all see it at the bar. And he took you out on a date. And he’s texting you first thing when he wakes up… he obviously likes you. Why hasn’t he kissed you?!?!”

You shrugged, “I mean, maybe he isn’t and he just wants to be friends. I also feel like dating a former patient probably breaks some kind of nursing ethics code.”

It was something that occurred to you after brunch with Bradley the day before, the possibility of this flirtation messing with your professional life.

Carly’s face dropped when the two of you stopped at your car, “Oh my god… I hadn’t even thought of that.”

You shifted your weight uncomfortably, “Yeah… so I’ve gotta ask you and I’d like you to pass it on to Madi and Sam too, not to discuss Saturday or my… friendship with Bradley at work.”

She nodded, “Of course, I’m sorry I even brought it up briefly when we got on the unit last night.”

“It’s okay, no one was around to hear. I’m just not very well liked by the senior nurses and some of the providers. I just don’t want to give them something to talk about, you know?” You explained.

“Absolutely. When is your contract up?” She asked.

“4 weeks, they asked me to extend though.” You rubbed your eyes, desperately trying to stay awake.

“Are you gonna do it? Or is it too early in the morning to talk about this?” She giggled.

You nodded, “Bingo. Let’s leave this as ‘to be continued’.”

“Alright, get home safe.” She waved you off and headed towards her car a few spots away. 

Once in your Toyota Corolla and buckled, you blasted loud music and freezing cold AC to keep you awake and alert on your commute home. Once there you peaked at your phone.

Bradley Bradshaw: Now that you’ve enjoyed the sunrise, you gotta get your ass to bed.

You: Yes sir, I’ll be out of commission until 1500 hours.

When you arrived home, you looked at your phone again to see Bradley replied with the saluting emoji. You dragged yourself out of the car and up to your apartment, in front of your door was a plastic takeout bag. The parcel was still warm when you picked it up, it was clearly left there just minutes ago. You blinked through your exhausted blurry vision and saw a note typed in the comments on the receipt… it was from the same place you had brunch with Bradley two days before.

“After working through the night, you deserve a true Californian breakfast and a nap. —Bradshaw”

This may be one of the most thoughtful things anyone had done for you in a while. You were so exhausted, you didn’t realize how hungry you were until you caught a whiff of the parcel. When you entered your apartment, you threw your bag down and went straight to the kitchen. You opened the bag to find a breakfast burrito neatly wrapped in aluminum foil, Bradley’s go to menu item. Maybe it was because of the surprise of it waiting for you at the door or because you were absolutely starving, but that thing tasted better than sex. You started your post night shift ritual with a shower. After brushing your teeth, doing your skin care, and changing into comfy clothes, you drew the black out curtains in your room, turned on the sound machine, and set an alarm for 2pm before popping a melatonin gummy. After many years as a nurse and often flipping between days and nights, you had this sleep ritual down to an absolute science.

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Y/N <3: thank you so much for breakfast. That may be one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me.

Rooster’s heart fluttered when the message flashed across his phone around 8AM. The Dagger Squad had just finished running a drill that ended with 200 push ups. That small rush made him forget how his muscles were screaming at him. He went to reply and saw the “do not disturb” icon was on. He was so glad since that meant Y/N was most likely sleeping. So he left a reply for her to wake up to.

Bradley: I’m glad it came just in time! Hope you’re taking the best nap ever :)

“Is that sexy nurse?” Natasha inquired as she peered over his shoulder.

Rooster rolled his eyes, “Phoenix, she has a name… and that’s none of your business.”

“So yes,” she smirked, “you are texting her.”

“I’m replying to her,” he corrected, “she worked all night last night and is on again tonight. So she won’t get it until she wakes up.”

She stood on her tip toes to get a better look at the screen, “You sent her breakfast?!?!”

Bradley was not loving this line of questioning but he knew he had to answer or Phoenix would never lay off, “I sent UberEats for her to come home too.”

“You are down bad, my friend.” She shook her head.

“Am not.” He quipped back.

“ Are too!” She shoved him.

“That’s not fair Phoenix, just cause you’re one of the boys doesn’t mean I’ll stoop low enough to shove a woman.” He groaned.

She chuckled, “You’re just scared to get your shit rocked, Bradshaw.”

Hangman suddenly appeared beside Phoenix, skillfully placing her in a headlock. “Is this little lady giving you trouble, Rooster?”

She squirmed and screamed, “Hangman, I’m gonna fucking kill you!”

“Ya know Phoenix,” he sighed, “Forever the bully.”

Phoenix reached over and Hangman a firm tap in the junk, causing him to jump and release her.

Rooster couldn’t help but smile as the two of them fought like siblings.

“I was asking him about the hot nurse from the other night.” She explained, “He’s texting her and sent breakfast to her place for her to come home to after work.”

Hangman’s face lit up, “Bradley, Bradley, Bradley… I never thought I’d see the day. You’re courtin’ a fine lady.”

Bradley rolled his eyes, “Courting is a strong word. I’m showing her that I’m… kinda interested.”

Hangman and Phoenix gave each other knowing looks.

Natasha nodded, “Uh huh, yeah. Sureeeeee.”

2pm rolled around and Bradley was wrapping up his work day on base.

Y/N <3: Not the best nap ever but pretty damn good. I’m gonna walk on the beach and get some sunshine before it’s back to the dungeon for the night. What are you up to for the rest of the day?

Should he shoot his shot? She wouldn’t keep engaging with him if she wasn’t at least a little interested, right?

Bradley: Joining you for a walk on the beach if you’ll allow it.

Y/N <3: I would love that. What time can you be at my place?

This was good. This was really good. She’s invited him back to her place. 

Bradley: I gotta change out of my uniform and stuff, how does 3 sound?

Y/N <3: Perfect, I’ll see you soon :)

Rooster had an extra skip in his step as he packed up his things, grateful for the 6am start allowing his work day to have an early finish. Once in his Bronco, he sped home to change into some casual clothes. He decided to really shake it up and not wear his usual Hawaiian shirt and jeans combo. A UVA t-shirt and some gym shorts seemed a lot more appropriate for a casual beach walk. Bradley really couldn’t believe he was putting that much thought into what he wore for something so casual. 

When he walked up to her door he could hear music through it. Whatever Y/N was listening to, she was clearly jamming. When he knocked, she quickly called out, “It’s open!”. He got a better listen to the music once the door was open, it was high energy with a… saxophone? It was kind of lit.

“What is this?” Bradley asked, “It’s awesome!”

“Modern Woman by Bleachers,” she entered the living room wearing a similar outfit to his, a university t-shirt and gym shorts, “Isn’t it great? Kinda gives me Springsteen vibes.”

He paused and listened a little more, “Yes, that’s spot on!”

“Let me just make sure I have my life together for work, so I can just change and leave later.” She said, heading toward the kitchen.

He took another good look at her as she took her lunchbox, water bottle, and an energy drink from the fridge and set it out on the counter. Fresh faced from her nap, hair in a bun, shorts and a t-shirt… he had never seen anything more beautiful.

Y/N paused for a moment and looked over at Rooster, “Is everything okay? Do I have something on my face?”  

He shook his head, “Yes, everything’s great… you look great.”

She smiled shyly and continued her task, “Thank you, Bradley… are you ready to head to the beach?”

“Hell yeah,” he asked, “which beach are we headed to?”

“Nothing fancy, just the beach a few blocks away.” She shrugged, “Hope you don’t mind tagging along on my normal, boring jaunt.”

He shook his head, “Y/N, nothing with you could be boring. I’d have fun watching paint dry.”

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The two of you walked along the shoreline; the waves ebbed and flowed across the sand and towards your feet. The wind whipped across your face and through your hair, making it dance wildly. Bradley looked so handsome beside you, you couldn’t help but stare and hope that maybe it would be less obvious since you had sunglasses on.

“I should start doing this more, it’s much more pleasant than running.” He chuckled to himself, “It’s so peaceful.”

You giggled, “Drinking bleach is more pleasant than running, in my opinion.”

“You’re not a runner?” He asked.

“Not unless something’s chasing me.” You quipped.

A smirk slowly crept across Bradley’s face. You weren’t exactly sure what was going through his head but you felt the sudden urge to start sprinting. Next thing you knew he was hot on your heels and you couldn’t help but giggle breathlessly, running on sand was so freaking hard! Two strong arms wrapped around your waist, lifting you off your feet with ease.

“BRADSHAW!!!” You cried out through your giggles, leaning your head back on his shoulder behind you.

His face burrowed into your neck, “You say you’re not a runner but you’re pretty speedy.”

You turned your head to look at him, nose to nose, still giggling breathlessly.

“You’re so beautiful.” He said simply.

It was like two magnets, your lips crashed into his, there was no force that could stop it. Once you realized what you did, you quickly pulled away, “I’m so sorry.”

He placed you gently back on your feet, “Y/N, the only thing you owe me an apology for is stopping.”

Your stomach fluttered, “Soooo… you wanna do it again?”

“Kiss me, you fool.” He chuckled, grabbing you by the cheeks and stroking them sweetly with his thumb.

You stepped closer so you two were chest to chest and gently brushed your lips against his. With a jolt of pure electricity, you pressed deeper into his kiss. It wasn’t until this moment, when you tasted his lips, that you realized how fucking starving you were.

Tag list:

@sarah-bear706318

@dizzybee03

@that-gay-person-27

@alwayshave-faith

@caitsymichelle13

@thespillingvoid

Please message or comment if you'd like to be added to the tag list!

[ivystoryweaver]

Spectre

A Moon Knight Halloween Love Story

Event #6: A Nightmare on Elm Street

prev | Fic Masterlist | My Masterlist | next

Event #6 Summary: Marc spends the evening with you and Steven gets a haunting

Pairing this chapter: Marc Spector x f!reader, Steven Grant x f!reader (Jake mentioned)

Word count: 3k

Content: ANGST, the yearning, ghost probs (no body), language, dealing with death and grief, manner and COD discussed, violence, spooky/horror elements, probably inaccurate DID (show based), not beta’d

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

PREVIOUSLY on "Spectre"...

"And...and maybe don't sell the house just yet?" You barely managed that request in a choked whisper. "If this is the only place I am besides the dark, and...and you guys leave then, I'm afraid - "

"Of the dark," he solemnly concluded. Reaching for your hand again - pointless, though it was, he made a vow. "Baby, look at me. I will never leave you here alone. Never. I promise you."

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Marc wanted to stay home with you all day, but you insisted that they lead normal lives. You promised to come back.

He wanted to kiss you goodbye. You’d just told each other you loved one another. It almost seemed as if he was headed downtown to work, and you would venture into your loft to write for the day.

You missed your loft. Why couldn’t you go in there? Maybe if you concentrated hard enough…

You missed writing. Maybe you could write some children’s ghost stories. After all, you now had first hand experience.

What…were you thinking? Write?

Was this death? Feeling all these tormented emotions? And good ones too? The sparkle of laughter with Jake, the yearning to talk to Steven, the love and longing, even lust for Marc.

And the guilt. You were too harsh with Marc before, when you said he ran away from pain or punched it in the face. You had to see him again soon, to apologize. He was going through too much already - he didn’t deserve that - not from you.

“I’m so sorry, Marc,” you whispered into the stillness of your bedroom. As if he could hear you.

The feelings washed over you, making you feel…alive. And clearer than you had felt since you first became aware of yourself, or of this room.

You waited all day. This was new. It was boring. But boring was better than darkness. Feeling anything was better.

You were practically bouncing with anticipation by the time the sun set. Finally Marc arrived.

You called his name as soon as you saw him climbing the front steps to your front door, and didn’t stop until he was standing in front of you.

“Baby? You okay?” He huffed, having run up the stairs.

“Yes, you can see me?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed, pulling off his jacket. “The way you were calling my name, I thought…something was wrong.”

You both realized how weird that sounded. Being dead kind of meant everything was wrong.

So you told him about your day. How you thought and thought and felt so many feelings. How you wondered about writing and your loft. How you never went back to the Dark Place. And how very sorry you were for what you said to him.

“I’m the last person who should be confirming your worst thoughts about yourself, Marc,” you explained. “Please forgive me, I felt terrible about it all day. I’m so sorry.”

His brow furrowed with confusion. “You didn’t do anything wrong, sweetheart.” No way he wanted you of all people to feel anything negative. You were the one who lost your life after all.

You talked for a little while longer, about simple things - his day at work, his walk home. Ordinary things. He mentioned speaking with Ms. Marjorie and you shared that you heard Steven speaking about her quaint, lovely shop.

Finally, Marc’s stomach growled, letting you both know that he needed some dinner. He could plainly see that you were anxious about him leaving the room.

“Just gonna grab some leftovers, honey, I’ll be right back,” he softly assured you.

Great. Now you were a clingy ghost. What the hell…

He wasn’t gone long, by your estimation anyway, and ate in your bedroom, with the two of you sitting on the bed. Then you felt even more guilty, as if you were trapping him here somehow.

“Hey, is the World Series on yet?” You asked, knowing October meant baseball postseason.

“Next week,” he clarified. “Why do you ask?”

You smiled at him knowingly. “Well, I mean…you can go watch baseball if you want to. You don’t have to sit in here all night.”

He pretended to be offended. “You trying to get rid of me?”

“No! No, I just…I want you to live your normal life…” You trailed off, sighing wistfully.

“Fuck it, I’ll just move the TV up here. Or get a new one,” he shrugged. “I want to be with you.”

That proclamation sobered you both, because it was the whole problem. You couldn’t be together. Not really.

“I want that too,” you whispered, easing a little closer to where he sat, leaning against the bed’s headboard. “It’s all I want. To be with you. But…it’s too late.”

“It’s not too late,” he found himself telling you, without really thinking before he spoke.

You frowned, confused.

“That’s what you kept saying, or…some voice I kept hearing when you first started appearing to me. ‘It’s not too late’. Even Ms. Marjorie said it. I didn't realize it til now but...I've heard it a few times: 'it's not too late.' What do you think it means?"

You shook your head. "No idea. It's obviously too late for us to really be together...isn't it?"

The sight of your wide, hopeful eyes broke his heart. "There has to be a reason you're here."

You talked a little while longer, about what this all could possibly mean. And instead of fading away, you seemed energized...and felt more alive, but you definitely were not.

Marc kept trying to touch you on instinct and you were most assuredly a ghost.

So you talked about ghosts: about myths and fables and any lore you could think of. You even looked it up online. Marc admitted Steven might be the better consult regarding this topic, but you both soberly remembered that he couldn't see you.

Which hurt because you felt overlooked and Marc felt crazy. But it wasn't Steven's fault, clearly.

"Ghosts can have unfinished business," Marc read from his phone screen. "All right, who are you still pissed at?"

The tension in his shoulders and the scowl he normally wore had relaxed as the night wore on. He almost seemed like his old self again. The person he was with you. The loving partner you adored, not the grief-stricken lonely man who questioned his sanity.

"No one," you thoughtfully answered, not knowing how the next words out of your mouth would change everything. "Well maybe the asshole who killed me."

Marc's phone dropped out of his hand and hit the mattress. He went deadly serious in one second flat. The mirth in his eyes turned stone cold - his lips parted as he drew a shuddering breath.

"W-what did you just say?" He choked out.

Shit, that wasn't a topic you should have made light of, or thrown around carelessly. Marc must still be reeling from your murder, if not blaming himself for it somehow.

"I'm sorry I said that - "

"What...did you say?" He covered his mouth with both hands as his eyes burned with fury. Pushing up off the bed, his fingers tore through his hair. "You...you weren't murdered," he gasped, his chest heaving the way it normally did right before he panicked. He wouldn't likely be here for much longer.

"You weren't," he hissed out a whisper. "What are you saying? There was an autopsy. You weren't...what are you saying!?"

Shit.

You floated off the bed, bewildered. You hadn't considered, even for a moment, that Marc was unaware of how you died. And it hadn't exactly come up.

"Marc, I...it doesn't matter how it happened, really. I didn't mean to...I thought you knew - "

"Yes, it really fucking does matter," he snapped, his fists clenched so tight they were turning white. His wild, frantic eyes landed on you, and seeing your distress, he shook his head in agony.

"You were...how? Who did this?" He let out a choked sob. "Tell me who. Who hurt you?"

"I-I don't know him. Marc, I thought you knew. If I wouldn't have gone to see Jake that night - "

"What?"

You went into the city the night you died? And Jake never fucking thought to mention it?

"I...I was on my way to see Jake." You did that sometimes - ride around with him at night, when Marc and Steven would have the next day off. It was a way to spend a little extra time with Jake, in his environment - his own little world. Plus it was fun to stay out all night, driving people around, eating at your favorite diner...making love in the back seat...

"I never made it," you explained. "I-I was still here in town when a man grabbed me - covered my mouth. He was strong. Then he moved my arm and I felt a pinch underneath my armpit. And that's all. He...maybe he injected me with something."

Marc pushed the heels of his hands against his eyes, almost doubling over in agony. "No. No, no, no, no." He banged his fists against his forehead and before you could follow your instinct to go to him - before you could even remember you wouldn't be able to touch him, he was gone.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Steven straightened up, blinking a few times before using his sleeve to dry his eyes. "What?"

He glanced around, trying to get his bearings when he heard the most heartbreaking cry of anguish...

coming from you.

“Bloody hell!” Steven gasped, scrambling away from your visage - not because it was you. He simply wasn’t expecting anyone at all to be in his bedroom. And he still couldn't see you, but he did hear someone cry out.

“No, no, no,” you cried, knowing Steven couldn’t see you.

"Losing m'mind," he mumbled, drawing his hands to his chest. His eyes swept across the room nervously, but he saw nothing.

"Maybe this place really is haunted," he murmured to himself. Deciding to take an evening walk and shake himself out of his spooky mindset, Steven found his shoes before shuffling downstairs, leaving you alone and heartbroken.

The feeling of being alive was so close, you could almost taste it. Your chest heaved with emotion - your heart, which stopped pumping life through your veins months ago, raced with worry for Marc and longing for Steven.

"Steven, please," you gasped, in a manner that would have been tearful, except that you had no tears to cry.

But he was gone.

Steven no longer lived in complete oblivion as he once did. If he suddenly fronted, his cheeks wet with Marc's tears, there was clearly a reason. Maybe Marc was still seeing you. He wasn't sure right at the moment because his alter was quiet - nowhere to be found, really. And it wasn't a parlor trick. He couldn't force Marc to appear or share anything.

Perhaps your little bungalow truly was haunted. Without giving it much thought, Steven's feet carried him back downtown, straight to the "Mystic Delights and Other Charming Novelties" shop.

He was looking for Ms. Marjorie. He wanted answers and somehow, he felt that she could give them.

But as he rounded the corner onto Main Street, he stopped short. There, right where the Mystic Delights shop should be, was...nothing. The building was dark and little run down. Unoccupied.

"Wait a minute..." Steven mused to himself, inspecting the darkened windows, where twinkle lights had recently shone out, welcoming him in. He scurried a few more doors down, to Mrs. Alraune's flower shop. Her store was closed, but in tact.

Retracing his steps, Steven tried to reason with himself about where Ms. Marjorie and her lovely shop could possibly be.

Finally, he decided to inquire in the corner drug store. He recognized the face of the cashier but didn't know her name. She looked to be in her early 20s and often rang Steven's order when he stopped in.

He inquired after Ms. Marjorie and the little shop that had come to mean so much to him in only a couple days.

Devon, the young cashier was named, told him she had been employed at the drug store since high school and that particular store had changed owners a few times. The city had tried to clean it up on many occasions but she couldn't remember an antique store - not recently, anyway.

"No, that's not possible," Steven argued. Realizing his words might offend, he apologized. "Sorry, I just...I swear there was a lovely little antique shop right there. The most extraordinary woman owns it..."

Realizing he sounded like he wasn't quite right, he offered up one more apology and left.

Steven felt more confused than ever. Where was Ms. Marjorie? And her shop? Who was making noises in his home? And why had Marc claimed to see you?

October 31st hadn't quite rolled around, but Steven was all done with spooks. He walked home, quickening his pace, fueled by confusion and agitation.

Once he reached your front yard, he saw the curtain of his bedroom rustling.

"All right, ghost," he firmly declared, "I'm coming up and you bloody well better make yourself plain. No more games."

He rushed up the front steps to unlock the front door, hoping with all his heart that, if you were here - if Marc really saw you - that he might see you too.

So he called your name.

"Darling, I know I haven't been able to see you, and...I don't even know if you're here, but please...please send me some kind of a sign."

Turning this way and that, he checked the living room, the kitchen. With a heavy sigh, he climbed the stairs to the bedroom, pausing at your picture in the hallway.

"What's happening, love? Marc is seeing you, and I'm apparently having tea with a spectre instead of a shopkeeper. Please...are you there?"

His shoulders slumped in defeat and confusion, he trudged the final step into your once-shared bedroom

...and there you were.

Right there, seated on the edge of the bed, wearing Marc's hoodie.

"Oh my days," he breathed, his eyes widening as he stepped right in front of you. “Darling? Is it really you?”

Your gaze, so forlorn, snapped up to his. “Steven?” You gasped, “Can…can you see me?”

He rubbed his eyes for good measure, then nodded eagerly. “You are here. Aren’t you, love?”

"Steven, oh my god," you breathed, rising to meet him, wishing with all your nonexistent heart you could throw your arms around him. "I've been trying to talk to you, but you couldn't hear me, or see me," You emphatically explained.

"God, I'm so sorry," he sincerely returned, his dark eyes shifting, studying you with concern. "I didn't mean to doubt you. I'm sorry."

He shook his head in wonder. "I can't believe it. Marc was right. H-how are you here?" Stepping closer, he interrupted himself. "Are you alright, love? You're not hurt or anything? I mean, besides the obvious..."

He trailed off, granting you a bewildered smile as he drew his hands close to his chest. Oh, how you missed this precious, adorable man of yours.

"No, I'm okay. I was with Marc before. Then you left."

You explained to Steven a little of what had been going on, with your talks with Marc and Jake. Then you asked Steven if any of them knew how you died.

"Coroner said your heart just stopped," Steven explained.

"Yeah because someone injected me with something," you supplied, feeling the need to pace back in forth, even though you were really sort of floating. "They didn't find anything in my system? A drug, or a puncture mark under my arm?"

"Darling you're not...you're not suggesting that you were...killed?"

Just the thought of some asshole taking you away from your life - from your stories, your loft, from the town you adored, from this house and from the man you wanted to marry and have a family with - the feeling of the helplessness and despair you felt in that moment boiled into rage.

Without even realizing what you were doing, you curled your fingers into fists, squeezed your eyes shut and cried out, sending a wave of energy jolting through your bedroom, knocking Steven clean off his feet. The power was so strong, it knocked the lamp off the bedside table, crashing to the floor, and lastly, the mirror over your dresser shattered.

You acted out of pure spectral instinct.

Steven reacted equally, having summoned his Mr. Knight suit without a second thought. He didn't even intend to do it - it just happened as soon as his mind registered the danger of falling and flying glass.

The sight of your partner "taking arms", or suiting up in his defense against you...

It absolutely shattered you. The coherent thoughts you wanted to share with your partner were as scattered as the shattered mirror glass.

Powerful emotions swirled and blurred into despair. You found yourself untethered from the sweet conversation, longing and desire with your partner - the serenity you had experienced here over the last day or so, with Marc and Jake.

The broken lamp sent the room into darkness and as you fell further into despair, you could no longer detect the white of Steven's suit, or see even the moon's glow through the window.

You thought you heard your name called, but it was galaxies away, the way a voice above the surface of a swimming pool sounds when you're underwater.

The sound faded and all that was left was the Dark.

next

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

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[justdaphne]

The Crows during Barbenheimer

Kaz

You can tell what color he’s already wearing. LITERALLY straight out of Oppenheimer.

“Kaz can you get Barbie tickets I already got Oppenheimer”

“6 tickets” “for Oppenheimer?” *stares* “Barbie”

Kaz was awake during the whole duration of Oppenheimer. He actually liked it.

Of course, he understands it. Everything. Afterwards, he had a discussion with Wylan for better bomb creations

“KAZZZZ I DONT GET ITTTT” “not everyone has the level of intelligence to.”

For Barbie, Nina managed to sneak some pink paint onto his coat

Honestly, he didn’t like it but he understood the message and was there for Inej (only) who was probably getting a tad bit emotional (who else wasn’t) So he tried his best to comfort her.

Jesper

A pink atomic bomb dropped on him

“CMON BARBIE LET’S GO PARTY I’M A BARBIE GIRL IN A BARBIE WORLD ..” He’s been singing that song non-stop.

Jesper slept during Oppenheimer. He was probably most awake during THAT scene though.

“I DONT GET IT WHAT DOES IT MEAN” “What did he say?” “HUHHHH” “WHEN IS THIS OVERRRRR” “Wylan this is YOUR THING”

“JESPER STFU”

A whole different person during Barbie. Got the Barbie popcorn, Barbie tumblr, even decorated his guns pink.

After the movie? A sobbing mess.

“I am Kenough. I AM KENOUGH.”

Continues not stopping to sing Barbie girl

Inej

Personally, I think she wore a less flashy color of pink..so dark pink? (Does she even have pink?) Well Nina helped.

“Inej what’s he doing?” yeah she does the explaining but not all of it BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE KEEP TALKING DURING THE MOVIE, SO SHE LOSES FOCUS ON WHAT THEY’RE SAYING.

“Please don’t tell me you plan on recreating that bomb Kaz”

She probably felt bored in some of the scenes.

During Barbie she had the time of her life. Laughing (Kaz was somewhat smiling because of that) Dancing in her seat during uplifting music playing and also tearing up. Especially during that line about the struggles of women.

She felt Kaz’s hands squeezing hers.

Pretty much comforting everyone else after the whole film (Mom of the group thingssssss)

Wylan

I think he’d wear black with a tad bit of pink to match both movies

HE ABSOLUTELY LOVEDDD OPPENHEIMER. He found it so interesting. Also inspiring maybe

“Maybe I can.. NO I WON’T”

Father son moment with Kaz about stuff . They were talking about everything that happened but most importantly if Wylan could recreate it but that’s dumb hahaaha Inej stopped it right away

HE ALSO ABSOLUTELY LOVED BARBIE. Ryan Gosling.

Laughing, dancing, crying too but he had to comfort Jesper.

The only person he could deeply analyse the movie with was Inej because everyone else was busy crying, comforting or Kaz.

“I loved how ..”

Nina

Dressed in absolutely the Barbiest pink you can imagine. And a cowboy hat.

In Oppenheimer she can literally tell who a character is played by. “IS THAT DEVIN BOWSTICK”

Most definitely awake during THAT scene. “I have a crush on Florence Pugh.”

After that, she doesn’t understand a thing. BOMBS. EXPLOSION. CILLIAN. that’s it.

She needed a whole 30 minute explain video.

“I come out of the cinema as J R Oppenheimer.”

“Nina, you know nothing about quantum physics.”

Like Jesper, SOOO HYPED FOR BARBIE. BARBIE GIRL. BARBIE WORLD. MARGOT ROBBIE. MOSTLY MARGOT ROBBIE.

“WATCH ME. DAAAAANCCEEEEE DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY”

A sobbing mess pt 2

But it’s fine because Barbie World started playing so she’s dancing again. With puffy eyes. #moodswings

“That..was a cinematic masterpiece. *intellectual statement*” but like 2 business days after the movie because she needed time to process and think and recover.

Matthias

Nina would PERSONALLY make Matthias try out a whole wardrobe. Black? Pink? Black AND Pink??????

“Nina, let me wear whatever I want”

“NO.”

He’s just there because Nina is there. Probably judges the whole Oppenheimer movie.

“Is that ethical?” “Is that reasonable?” “IS THAT BIBLICAL?”

But overall he probably was just silent during Oppenheimer.

But of course, he does have some statements about the movie #critic101 .

“So Matthias what do you think?” “It was a cinematic masterpiece.. Christopher Nolan.. *blah blah blah*”

He secretly enjoyed Barbie. Secretly. Maybe he said it was too girly for him but he secretly liked it.

“I’M JUST KEN ANYWHERE ELSE I’D BE A TEN”

Of course, he comforts Nina because she’s sobbing. Hugs her. Kisses her. And reassures her.

He tells her that he’s grateful for someone like her in his life and he thanks her for being as strong as she is no matter how hard it is. Which makes her cry harder.

[misfitwashere]

Friends,

Trump called attention to the discrepancy between his height (reportedly 6-foot-3) and Kamala Harris’s (5-7½ in heels), insisting that no accommodation be made to appear closer in size.

“No boxes or artificial lifts will be allowed to stand on during my upcoming debate with Comrade Kamala Harris,” he wrote, adding that such accommodations would be “a form of cheating.” There’s no evidence Harris has sought such things. 

Nicholas Rule, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto who researches social perception and cognition, said Harris’s shorter height will be irrelevant tonight because she exudes “Tall Energy,” which he defined as “the confidence that comes from being above average height.”

I am 4-feet-10. At my highest, I was 4-feet-11. I doubt I have “Tall energy.” But if I were on the stage tonight with Donald Trump, I’d demolish him. 

To be sure, when it comes to choosing leaders, our society is exceptionally heightist. 

When I ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, it seemed that the only attribute reporters wanted to cover was my height. Regardless of what I said in my speeches, the Boston Globe ran photos of me standing on boxes so I could see over the podium. The right-wing Boston Herald ran a headline on its front page charging “Short People Are Furious with Reich” because I had joked about my height on the campaign trail. 

None of it helped me with that election. But I didn’t lose because of my height. I lost because I was a lousy campaigner.

Research shows that voters do prefer taller candidates. A paper published in 2013 by psychologists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands analyzed the results of American presidential elections dating back to 1789. They found that taller candidates received more votes than shorter ones in roughly two-thirds of all elections. And the taller the candidates were relative to their opponents, the greater the average margin of their victory. 

Among presidents who have sought a second term, winners have been two inches taller, on average, than losers. The authors conclude that height may explain as much as 15 percent of the variation in election outcomes. 

It’s similar in the private sector. A survey of the heights of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies showed they were on average six feet tall -- about 2.5 inches taller than the average American man.

Why are we so heightist? Probably because of some genetic trigger in our brain that told early humans they needed the protection of very big men. Other things being equal, large males are more to be feared and they live longer. An impulse to defer to them, or prefer them as mates, makes evolutionary sense.

In Size Matters, Stephen S. Hall writes that in the eighteenth-century Frederick William of Prussia paid huge sums to recruit giant soldiers from around the world, thereby giving tangible value to matters of inches, and revealing “the desirability of height for the first time in a large, post-medieval society.”

But hey, I’m okay with giant soldiers, big security guards, and massive CEOs. I don’t care if I lack “Tall energy.” I’m fortunate to have grown up (or at least grown upward) in a society that values brains at least as much as brawn.

Kamala will win tonight, and she’ll go on to win the election in 55 days — not because of her “Tall energy,” but because she’s smarter, tougher, and better in every way than her large, stupid, decrepit opponent. 

[professional-idiots]

TBHK Ch.110–Thoughts and feelings

1. I don’t even know what to say about this. LIKE!!?!!?! Especially because Akane always said that supernaturals only ever think about themselves!!! GUYS… I wonder if this is gonna affect him as a character and his outlook on the supernatural (anyway they’re literally siblings and I was sobbing)

2. SOOO CURIOUS ABOUT THIS!!!! What’s the significance?? Is it a functional key? Probably… and if so what does it open?? Maybe it controls the clock somehow???? So many possibilities 😭

3. WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS SO HAPPY TO SEE HIM. This is my SON. I love him so much and I was so happy natsuhiko went to go find him 😭😭😭😭

4. He trusts him so fully!!! He genuinely thought natsuhiko was coming to save him!! He thought they were—if not friends then at least *friendly* HE THOUGHT HE COULD TRUST HIM

5. When I tell you my heart DROPPED (but I am excited by all this yorishiro talk—more on that later)

6. TBHK character stop shoving strange substances into Mitsuba’s mouth challenge (level: impossible)

7. MYYYY BABY MY BABY YOURE MY BABY SAY IT TO ME!!! IIIII BET ON LOSING DOGGGSSSSS

(AND ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF HIS PREVIOUS ALMOST DEATH)

8. Friendly reminder that Teru is the worst boyfriend ever (he’s actively watching Akane eat shit)

9. I need someone with better media literacy than me to explain what the FUCK is up with these guys bc I feel like I know but like I don’t…. Every time I think I understand shit gets weird again. Like I’m following the story but I cannot analyze this

10. HIS FACCEEEEE 😭😭😭😭😭

OK THIS CHAPTER WAS AMAZING!!! I’m so scared for 111 bc WHAT IS GONNA HAPPEN!!!! I have so many theories and ideas and ughughughugh it was so good (even though everything that happened was bad) 8/10 (I’m giving this rating kind of arbitrarily so don’t read into it too much)

So on the yorishiro thing: I think Kou might become Mitsuba’s Yorishiro. Now I know people can become them but can living people… I dunno. However, I think it’s really likely. I’m wracking my brain on what all this Mitsuba would have to value. Not his camera because that was Sousuke’s thing. And if not his camera, then what? Kou is the one thing/person that Mitsuba has grown truly attached to.

So I think next chapter Mitsuba will be dying, but Kou will somehow be able to break from the time thingy (either he wills himself awake—like has a power flare in defense of Mitsuba—or maybe someone helps him—but who 😭) and goes over to Mitsuba and while he’s crying and being all Kou, Mitsuba is gonna like think about Kou (maybe call him his friend for the first time) and somehow in the moment Kou will become Mitsuba’s yorishiro. TRUST GUYS TRUST.

Also on Mitsuba and Kou:

POOR KOU. He looked up to natsuhiko so much when they met right before the severance 😭😭 if he’s close enough, he would’ve SEEN everything happening to Mitsuba.

And also POOR MITSUBA. He trusted natsuhiko!!!!! The good news is that Mitsuba will probably fully shift sides now and possibly make a more direct effort to help Kou Yahsiro and Hanako. Genuinely though, his mom is hurt, *he* is hurt, his friend(ish) betrayed him. My poor baby 😭 why do AidaIro hate himmmm.

I would say something super smart and informed about the twins now, but as I said: nothing about them makes any sense to me.

Ugh I seriously don’t think I can wait till next monthhhhh!!!! If AidaIro lose it and actually kill off Mitsuba…. I don’t even know what I’m gonna do. 111 better be good or else 😭

[cressthebest]

Crimson Rivers thoughts pt. 25

chapter 43:

1. “There wasn't an outcry of excitement and delight for what's to come. Instead, the crowd was fucking furious . People were sobbing; people were yelling in protest; people were looking at Victors that were supposed to be safe and raging that they no longer were.”

good. make people finally realize that the games are not okay. make the hallow angry

2. “and now Regulus knows what Remus sounds like when he weeps. It's heart-rending.”

3. 😭😭 most of the tributes/victors not using the fighting space is so real. they’re all just done. they’re not even gonna train. they’ve done this all before and came out for either the better or the worse

4. this is heartbreaking. sirius is going into the arena and thinks he’s saying goodbye to james forever, the same way it was last games, except with james going in. i can’t do this.

(i would like to interject and say i am not criticizing this fic in any way. i am not upset with the author in any way. i’m just dramatic and expressing emotions. whatever direction zar takes with this fic is his choice and we should not be angry at him)

5. why is it always “i love you” and never “”I'm as temperamental as the ocean, and just the same, I'm at your mercy. Give me a ship, and I will wreck it at your command."” -sirius

6. i love how sirius has a safe space to try things with remus

7. 🩷🩷🩷 i love playful wolfstar (sirius telling remus he can do the thing where he can climb a person and wrap his thighs around their head)

8. “Asher, in contrast, poisoned a water supply and killed everyone off that way; her games lasted two days, and she came out entirely unscathed.” holy shit. quick and efficient. i don’t know if that’s better or worse for her sanity

9. 😧 i had no idea that sirius had the highest kill count period. the next person with a high kill count only has NINE people. sirius killed TWELVE holy shit. no wonder he’s so confident

10. “The Hallows love all the members from the Black family. We're their favorites. The most entertaining," Sirius explains, wrinkling his nose. "It's because we're all fucking mental. Makes for a good show. They love the drama, no doubt, and there's no family more dramatic than ours."”

sirius is so real for that. it’s good to know that they’re still insane in this universe and famous for being so.

11. “He shuts the door gently, locks it, and goes to start a bath. At least there, when he cries, he can lie to himself about why.”

real tears coming out of my eyes rn

12. DORCAS FREAKING MEADOWS YALL <3333333333 she’s gonna break into the arena and i love her

13. lily activating flight mode when dorcas said she loved her 😭😭😭

chapter 44:

1. “-brief depiction of violence (you'll probably like it, bc it's james” -authors note 😭😭😭

2. james fucking knocking lucius over with his cane is top tier

3. “”Frankly, you look like you got into a fight with a vacuum and are ridiculously pleased about it.””

4. “"James assaulted Lucius!" Pandora hisses. "Smacked him in the face with his cane."

"Oh, nice," Sirius says reflexively, then shrinks back when Pandora turns a withering glare on him. He coughs. "Sorry, no, I mean—oh no, James, how could you?"” BWAHAHHAHHA

5. “”After I stabbed you with a fork, I'm still the favorite?"

Bellatrix chuckles. "Oh, bygones and all that. Honestly, you could actually kill me, and I'd still like you better than Sirius. He's such an ungrateful, mouthy little shit. Besides, you were protecting your boyfriend. Sweet of you, really. It's cute."”

oh. she’s insane

6. oh. oh no. oh no. regulus is going to become a death eater. i- dnakjdksjsjsjsksk AHHHHHH NO

7. “”I hate you so fucking much," James chokes out, because that's the only explanation, that's all this can be. The words barely spill out of his mouth before he's catching Regulus' face in his hands and kissing him desperately, furiously, pathetically.”

WOOHOO! i honestly half saw it coming. perfection 😙💋 chefs kiss

8. 😭😭 james rips reg’s shirt off so hard that a button flies off

9. “All he says is, "Well? Don't you recognize a parting gift when you see one?"” 😧 my jaw is on the fucking floor. holy fucking shit. holy fucking shit holy fucking shit oh my god oh my god that’s an INSANE thing to say

10. “James had explained, flatly, that they had ill-advised hate-sex” real

11. i love the regulus/katniss parallels that are always made in the evaluations. i especially like the “hallow is hollow” note he left in the rugs

12. 👁️👄👁️ sirius my boy, what are you doing? HES UNBUTTONING HIS SHIRT AS A SHOW OF DEFIANCE. holy shit

13. “Look at me, Sirius thinks. Look at me and see who I belong to. Not you. Never you. I belong to me, and I've given myself to him, and there's nothing you can do about it.”

good for him

14. “When the evaluation scores come out, Sirius gets the lowest out of everyone, the lowest possible score to get, a score that no other tribute in history has ever gotten before him, and when he sees it, amongst everyone else's dismay, he laughs.” LMAO GOOD FOR HIM

15. “Sirius got the lowest ever in history.” LMAOOO STILL LOSING MY MIND

16. “The parting gifts are not great, as it turns out. They hurt quite a bit, emotionally speaking. Regulus is greedy for more anyway.” 😙✌️ regulus can’t stand to receive the cards he dealt

17. 😐 reg really did join the death eaters. i. hm.

18. “"You know, every Black who has gone into the arena always made it back out. This will be the first time that doesn't happen.”” oh shit. that’s wild. they really are a force to be reckoned with

[ironychan]

Scary Monsters

@dysphoria-sweatshirt @30spiders @sweatersexual @angrylittlesliceofpizza @writer652

Part 1/? - Rocco’s Closet

Part 2/? - School for Monsters

Part 3/? - The Waternoose Family

Part 4/? - The Terrifying Humans

Part 5/? - Hiding Places

Part 6/? - Nobody’s Fault

Part 7/? - Edge of Disaster

Part 8/? - Caged Monsters

Part 9/? - The Journey Home

Part 10/? - Portorosso

Part 11/? - A New Family

Part 12/? - More Obstacles

Part 13/? - Out and About in Genova

Part 14/? - Lack of Planning

Sorry this took so long. I got it written quickly enough, but then I had artist's block and I didn't want to skip the illustrations.

Daniela had not been expecting to find them there, either. She screamed right back. For a moment the room was full of terrified voices, and then everybody fell silent, staring at each other.

“So much for staying quiet,” Helena observed.

“M-m-mom?” Luca asked tremulously “What are you doing here?”

Daniela recovered enough to speak, and climbed the rest of the way through the closet door into the room. Her bare feet and hands were dirty, and her dress had a tear in the skirt – it had clearly been a difficult climb. “What am I doing here?” she echoed. “What are you doing here, young man? Your father and I were very specific that we didn’t want you doing this, and you deliberately disobeyed!”

“Signora Paguro...” Giulia began.

“And you two!” Daniela rounded on Giulia and Alberto, shaking a finger at them. “You helped! I’d talk to your parents, but they’re clearly in on the whole thing!” She glared at Helena.

“We need to stop shouting!” said Helena, holding up her hands. “Somebody’s probably heard all that, and the security guards will be coming to investigate. We’ll only make it worse if we keep arguing, so how about we compromise?”

“Compromise?” Daniela began, but then paused. There were voices talking downstairs... it was impossible to hear what they were saying, but they sounded urgent.

Giulia had immediately understood what her mother had in mind. “Signora Paguro,” she said again. “Harry didn’t want to go back, so we had to drag him here. He’s changed his mind now and he wants to go, so we’ll leave him here for when the monster researchers open the door, and the rest of us will go back to Portorosso! How about that?”

“But...” Luca began, but then caught Helena’s eye and saw her shake her head.

“I...” Daniela looked down at Harry, who smiled sheepishly. “That sounds reasonable, I suppose,” Daniela decided, “but you three are still in a lot of trouble.”

Luca really did want to argue, but he knew this was a fight he could not win, so he sighed heavily, and then nodded. “Yes, Mom.”

“How did you get here?” Helena wanted to know.

“I took the train, like you did,” Daniela replied, “and don’t think it wasn’t the most terrifying experience of my life! I don’t know how you do it,” she told Luca, “in this big rattling box that feels like it might tip off the cliff at any moment, surrounded by strange humans. I’m never doing that again! We’re going to swim home like respectable creatures.” She shook her head. “But yes, when I realized where you must have gone, I opened up your grandmother’s savings...”

“She has savings?” asked Alberto.

“Nonna collects coins that fall in the water,” Luca explained. “She uses them to bet at cards.”

“... and I was on the first train this morning,” Daniela went on. “Then I knew you’d said Palazzo Spinola, but I had to find the place, which was also ridiculous. Why would you build like this, where all the roads turn you around and go back the way you came, when you can’t look down on the place from above?” She glared at Helena as if she were personally responsible.

“There’s not a lot of space between the mountains and the sea,” Helena said. “They build things wherever they fit.”

“Then when I got here,” Daniela said, “the humans outside said you’d left after lunch, but I knew better. They wouldn’t let me in any of the doors, so I decided to climb up and look for another way, only to have you open the door and scream in my face! After I’ve been through all that, don’t you even think you can change my mind about taking you home.”

“Yes, Mom,” Luca repeated.

Daniela nodded, satisfied. “Good. Let’s go.”

“What? Right now?” asked Alberto.

“We have to make sure Harry gets home safe!” Luca agreed.

“We can’t just leave him on his own,” Giulia said. “He can’t be trusted!”

“I really can’t!” Harry said, then paused, thinking about what had just been said. “Wait a minute...”

“We just have to wait until the monster scientists open the door,” said Luca, forging ahead before Harry could try to correct them. “We don’t know when that’ll be, though.”

“It might not happen at all,” Helena warned. This had occurred to everybody else, but nobody had wanted to say so. If the scientists didn’t actually use this door, then all this had been for nothing and they were going to have to find another way back. Nobody knew if that were even possible.

There was a creak and a thump from downstairs, and then footsteps. Somebody had opened the main door downstairs, and as Helena had predicted, they were on their way up to see what all the noise was about.

“Oh, no,” groaned Luca.

“Quick!” Giulia grabbed one of the cloths from earlier. “Hide!”

They all scrambled underneath, using boxes and paint cans to prop up the sheets and make them look like they were covering furniture or supplies rather than people. It was hard to say how convincing this might be. It seemed to have worked on men who were tired and distracted and didn’t expect to find anybody there. People who were looking for an intruder might not fall for it at all.

“What if they find us?” whispered Luca, crouching in in front of his mother under one of the sheets.

“Harry.” Alberto poked the young monster. The two of them were curled up under Helena’s empty suitcase, left open beside one wall. “If they come in here, you pop out and scare them away.”

“What? No way!” said Harry, shaking his head hard. “There might be a lot of them!”

“Sssssh!” hissed Giulia, under the second cloth with her own mother.

For the first couple of minutes, Luca hoped the security guards might only search the first floor and then give up. That evaporated when he realized the footsteps were now coming up the steps. What had been indistinct voices began to turn into actual words.

“... said she thought her son and his friends were in here,” one of the men was saying. “I sent her home.”

“Should have escorted her the whole way,” another replied.

Nobody dared breathe. The footsteps came closer and closer, keys jingled, and then the ominous creak as the door opened. Flashlight beams darted around the room, one shining right into Luca’s eyes so that even with the sheet over his head, he had to close them. Would they move on, or had they seen something suspicious.

“Mamma mia,” one of them groaned. “Who do you all think you’re fooling?” He stepped forward and reached for the sheet.

Daniela stood up, hands on her hips. “Luca,” she ordered, “the water.”

That was right – they still had the buckets of water they’d prepared for disguising themselves upon entering the monster world. Luca grabbed the nearest one.

“Signora Paguro,” the guard said calmly as he pulled the sheet away. “We were very clear that...”

Luca threw the water over his mother. The security guard yanked the cloth away, expecting to see a harried-looking woman in her late thirties, and found instead a sharp-toothed, scaly creature with glowing red eyes and a lashing tail. Daniela couldn’t roar like the closet monsters could, but she let out a high-pitched scream to match the one she’d given when she’d suddenly found Luca, Alberto, and Giulia inside the room.

The guards dropped their flashlights and grabbed each other as they screamed back in terror, then fell over each other in their panic to leave. One was pushed to the ground as the other two left him behind. He was screaming insults at them as he picked themselves up to follow.

“And stay out!” Daniela shouted as the half-ran, half tumbled down the stairs outside.

“They’ll be back with more people,” said Giulia. “Just like they were for Harry. We gotta go.”

“What about me getting home?” Harry complained.

“Giulia’s right,” Luca said, though he didn’t like to admit it, either. They hadn’t chased the guards off for good, they’d only bought a few minutes.

“We’ll have to try somewhere else,” Helena agreed. She picked up one of the flashlights and reached for the closet door. “Daniela, you climbed up. Can you show us...”

Then suddenly another light came on – this one shining from around the door which should have had nothing on the other side of it by empty street and scaffolding. Everybody froze. Luca dared to hope that something tonight was going to go his way.

“Doc!” a voice called from the other side. “It’s working now!”

That had to be their cue. “Harry,” Luca whispered. “Over here, quick!”

Luca, Giulia, and Alberto surrounded Harry, ready to push him through any opposition they might encounter on the other side of that door. Helena and Daniela took up positions behind them, to fend off intruders from downstairs. There wasn’t much available by way of potential weapons, but Helena had the flash on Giulia’s camera, and Daniela hefted two fairly full paint cans, ready to swing them at anyone who came in. Everybody held their breaths.

The light under the door went out again. Luca wilted, thinking they’d missed their chance – but then the door creaked open, and a glowing eye peered back at him.

“Now!” Luca shouted.

He and his friends pushed Harry at the one-eyed figure. The monster in the closet yelped in surprise and dived out of the way. Meeting none of the expected resistance, all four children tumbled through the opening to land in a heap on a tile floor.

“Luca!” Daniela dropped her paint cans and ran after them.

As she did, the main door of the room opened again, and light flooded in. There were too many people from a camera flash to be remotely effective. Seeing no other escape, Helena, too, ducked through the closet door, and slammed it shut behind her.

As their eyes adjusted to the dark, the group saw that they were in a long tiled room. One wall held a row of door stations, similar to but bulkier than the ones at the factory. The other was covered with all sorts of equipment and dials, with pipes, hoses, and bundles of wire leading into the ceiling or across the floor to the doors. Books, papers, chairs, and coffee cups were knocked over and strewn around, and there were sounds of panic and shouting coming from out in the hall. Luca knew they had to do something fast, before anyone tried to come back in. He looked around, and soon found what he was looking for.

“Water!” he said, pointing to the fire hose coiled behind a glass panel in the wall.

He and Alberto yanked the door open, setting off an alarm as they did. Luca uncoiled the hose, and Alberto turned the wheel. Water blasted out, and Luca pointed the nozzle at Alberto to soak him first.

From behind him there was an indignant cry of, “hey!”

“Huh?” Alberto turned around and let Luca turn the hose on himself and Daniela while he inspected a row of cupboards on the wall. One was half-open – just enough to let the jet of water spray inside. Alberto pulled it open all the way, and found a tangle of legs in black patent mary-jane shoes, belonging to a monster girl of twelve or thirteen who was now rather damp.

“You two again!” she exclaimed. It was the girl they’d repeatedly splashed at Harry’s school. “What is this, some kind of conspiraohmygod!”

“It was an accident!” said Luca. He turned off the hose and came to help her, only to realize that she was staring right past him and Alberto, looking at something else in utter terror. When Luca followed her gaze, he found his mother shaking extra water out of her fins, and behind her were Helena and Giulia. Both of them were also soaking wet, but that didn’t matter, because both of them were human.

“Oh, no, they’re fine!” Luca told the girl in the cupboard. “They’re friends of ours.”

“They’re poisonous!” the girl protested. “Or venomous or whatever! You were there when we learned about it!”

The lab door flew open again, and four or five monsters of various sizes – though all of them smaller than the large, intimidating ones who worked as Scarers at the factor – barged in carrying a variety of improvised weapons of their own. One had a large wrench, another a mop, and the one in the lead, who had three eyes and eight legs, was wielding a cricket bat. He scuttled forward and pointed it at the group.

“Unhand my daugh...” he began, then his eyes widened as he saw Daniela. For a moment he just stared in astonishment, and then his entire demeanour changed. He stood up straight and put the bat behind his back. “I’m so sorry, Ma’am. Miss? You startled me! Uh...” he took in Harry, crouched and covering his head at Daniela’s feet, and Luca and Alberto, helping the girl out of the cupboard, all while Helena and Giulia edged to the site to stay hidden behind Daniela.

“I’m fine, Dad,” the girl in the cupboard said, rolling her eyes.

“Oh! Tarantella!” the scientist exclaimed, as if he’d momentarily forgotten she was there. He gave his cricket bat to one of his very confused colleagues, and scuttled forward to check on his daughter. “You’re... all wet,” he observed.

“That’s their fault,” said Tarantella. “These guys go to my school, and apparently every time I meet them, I get wet!”

“Oh,” said the scientist. He had the name González embroidered on a pocket of his white coat. “Wait, what were they doing on the other side of that door. Ma’am?” he turned to Daniela. “Were you scaring in there? If so, I’m afraid there’s been some kind of mixup...”

“That’s a very long story, Sir,” said Luca. Harry hadn’t said anything yet, so it was apparently up to Luca to take charge. This was where their plan ran out, so he was going to have to make things up as he went... and the first priority, he decided, was to make sure nobody panicked again. “Sir,” he said, “we need your help with something, but we need you to not freak out! So before we do anything else, you need to know that humans aren’t poisonous!”

“They aren’t?” asked González. He grabbed Luca by the shoulders, holding on uncomfortably tight as he gave the boy a bit of a shake. “You know that for certain?”

“Sure do,” said Alberto.

“Mom,” Luca said. “Move over.”

González looked up at Daniela again. “Oh, that’s your mom?” he asked, disappointed – but then his breath caught as she stepped aside to reveal Helena and Giulia. His grip on Luca relaxed, allowing him to wiggle free.

“This wasn’t part of the plan at any point,” Helena noted. Her eyes went to the closet door, but it was sitting quietly in its frame with the lights off, perhaps no longer connected. There’d been no more noises from beyond it.

“Miercoles!” whispered González. He started to step towards them, then stopped and looked at Luca for permission. “May I, then?”

Helena took over, and gave him a hand to shake. “Piacere, Dr. González. I’m Helena Marcovaldo, and this is my daughter, Giulia.”

“Ah... Javier González. ¡Encantada!” he replied, returning the handshake. After a couple of seconds he realized he’d gone on too long, and pulled his hand back to stare at it, turning it over to see the back. Then his face split into a broad, toothy grin. “I knew it! I knew it! Ha-ha! People think you’re crazy when you say Big Scream is hiding things, but I knew it!” He turned to his daughter. “Tarantella, didn’t I... ooooh, wait’ll I tell your mother! I’m gonna get a Gnoble Prize for this, I know it! The man who brought down the Scream cartel!”

Tarantella wasn’t impressed. “Haven’t you been saying that people who try to talk about it vanish?” she asked, worried.

At the same time, another monster poked one of its heads into the room, while another looked back over its shoulder. “Dr. González?” the first head said. “The police and exterminators have arrived.”

“Oh, no,” said Luca. They really should have had a plan for this part... but how could they have, when they didn’t know where they’d end up? And they certainly couldn’t have planned for Giulia and Helena being here. That had only happened because of the need to escape from the security guards in Genova. If only there were a third world where they weren’t in trouble!

“Oh, no,” González echoed. “Not this time!” He turned to his guests. “You two, you can just...” he stopped there, his mouth falling open. Daniela and the boys were drying out, and transforming.

“More water!” said Luca. He grabbed the hose to spray them all again. Tarantella shrieked preemptively and dived behind a trash can.

Dr. González clearly had questions about this, too, but he was much more interested in getting away with whatever it was he thought he was doing. He started up another door, and hustled Helena and Giulia through it. “Just wait right there,” he ordered them. “I’ll come and get you in a minute!” He then shut off the station, leaving Luca and Alberto slightly terrified that they would never see their friends again. Where had he sent them? It could have been anywhere.

There was no time to think about that, though. Moments later, a couple of policemonsters arrived, along with an individual in the yellow plastic suit of an exterminator. The latter was a hulking, hunchbacked creature with one head that peeked over the top of the other one, and the very long visor in that part of the suit made Luca feel like far too many eyes were watching him. All he could do, though, was stand in a line with Harry, Alberto, and Tarantella, while his mother and González took up positions behind them, trying to look like nothing had been going on.

“An alarm went off in here,” said one of the police monsters, a creature with three legs, two arms, a bushy mane, and far too many teeth.

“Ah, yes,” said González with a nervous laugh. “Yes, we’ve had a little... you can probably see, we’ve had a little problem with the fire system. Water everywhere! Don’t worry, nobody’s hurt. Of all the times for it to happen, it was bring your children to work day!”

“It’s okay,” Alberto put in, throwing an arm around Luca. “We’re sea monsters. We’re supposed to be wet, anyway!”

The other cop – a slug-shaped creature with a ridge down her back like a dragon – sighed. “You’ve really gotta get this place inspected, González,” she said. “This is the third false alarm this month.”

“It’s an old building, Maggie,” González replied apologetically.

“Just file the report,” Maggie sighed. “Maybe talk to the university council.”

“I’ll do that.”

The cops and exterminator took one last cursory look around the room, then turned and trooped out. Luca and Alberto allowed themselves to exhale, and González turned the other door back on to let Giulia and Helena back in. The boys had wondered if they might take the opportunity to flee, but they were still there, Helena with her hands on her daughter’s shoulders as they re-entered the laboratory.

“Where were you?” Luca asked.

“No idea,” said Giulia.

“We could hear voices talking in a foreign language,” Helena added, “but I don’t know what it was.”

Luca gave Giulia a hug. “Okay,” he said, “now we need to figure out what we’re doing next!” he said. “We have to get to the factory and...”

“Oh, no,” said Daniela. “We’re not staying. Harry’s back where he belongs, now it’s our turn. Dr. González, put that door back. I’m taking these kids home.”

“You can’t!” González protested. “At least... the humans can’t! I need them to prove my case!”

“Excuse me, you can’t just keep us prisoner,” said Helena.

“We can’t go back right away,” Giulia said. “They’re probably still looking for us in the Palazzo.”

“We’ll be charged with trespassing,” Helena agreed.

“Yes, exactly,” said González, though it was questionable how much he was listening. “I’ve got to get you out of here. We need a disguise...”

Behind him, the lab door opened again. “Hey, Doc,” said the exterminator, poking its two heads in. Surprisingly for such a large creature, it’s voice was high-pitched. “I think those two boys...”

It stopped dead, staring at Helena and Giulia. There was no time to do anything about it. Even worse, at that moment the air conditioning came on. Before the exterminator had time to recover from its initial shock, Alberto, Luca, and Daniela had all dried out and changed back to human form.

“Oh, no,” said Luca.

The exterminator stared a moment longer, then grabbed a walkie-talkie from its belt. “Hey, uh, Maggie...” it began.

Daniela took action. She scooped up González, discarded cricket bat and hit the exterminator over its larger head. The monster staggered.

“Hey!” protested the smaller head. This one had a deep, booming voice.

Daniela hit that one, too, and the creature crumpled. The walkie-talkie rolled across the floor and came to rest at González’ many feet.

“Hello?” asked a voice on the radio.

González picked it up, cleared his throat, and did his best to imitate the squeaky voice of the larger head. “Why don’t you go grab some lunch, Maggie,” he said. “I’m gonna help the doctor re-check some of his safety gear.”

“So they weren’t the kids you were looking for?” asked the voice of the cop.

“Nope! Totally different! Over and out!” González turned the device off and tossed it in a trash can. “Come on! We have to get you all back to my place! You three, get wet again!”

Luca ran for the hose. “What about Giulia and her mom?” he asked, as Tarantella took cover.

González stopped, frowning. “Yes, what about them?” he mused. He looked around, and his eyes found the fallen body of the exterminator.

A few minutes later, Daniela and the boys were sopping wet again, and Helena was wearing the exterminator’s yellow suit, with Giulia riding piggyback to fill out the hunchback and the second head. This was awkward and Helena couldn’t move fast, but they didn’t get more than a few sideways looks as they crossed the building’s lobby.

“I need to call my Mom,” said Harry.

“You’re going to tell your parents?” González was aghast. “Young man, they’re the ones keeping these secrets from the masses! Your father is probably the mastermind of the whole conspiracy.”

“I know,” said Harry. “I’m not gonna tell them we brought the humans, I just wanna tell them I’m okay. Maybe Dad will even be happy to see me.”

The front doors opened onto an expansive car park, surrounding by multi-storey buildings. González considered the options available to him, then headed for a van with a Monsters University logo and the word custodial painted on the side of it. “Tarantella,” he said, holding out a hand.

His daughter pulled a bobby pin out of her hair. González took it, and unlocked the back of the van.

“Great,” sighed Luca. Another car ride in the dark – the last one hadn’t been fun at all. There was nothing else to be done, though, so he climbed in.

“What are you guys even doing back here?” Tarantella wanted to know. “If you got back to your own world, why did you come back here where everybody thinks you’re criminals? And why did you bring the humans with you? Isn’t that just gonna get you in more trouble?”

“They weren’t supposed to come back at all!” said Daniela crossly. “I explicitly told them not to. Only Harry was supposed to come back.”

“But since we’re already here,” Luca added, “we need to find out what happened to Louise and Curtis and Mr. Sullivan. They’re in trouble and it’s all our fault!”

“Who are they?” asked González. He climbed in the driver’s seat of the van and started pulling the dashboard apart.

“They used to work for my Dad,” said Harry. “They’re fired now.”

“We’re gonna take them back to our world,” Luca explained. “We live in a town where they’re pretty okay with monsters. They even kinda got used to Harry. They’ll be okay there.”

“You can’t do that,” Harry protested. “What happens when somebody from outside your town comes to visit? Then they’ll end up with a mob, like the one that was after me!”

“Not if my Dad has anything to say about it!” said Giulia.

“I don’t really think that’s a good idea, either,” Helena put in.

“But we gotta do something!” Luca insisted. “Now that we’re here, we need a plan again. We need to figure out where they are. Then we need to know how to get in there and help them escape. And then we need a door that’ll go back to our own world. That last part is easy, at least.”

“Yeah, Dr. González has lots of them,” Alberto agreed.

“I can’t just let you all go before I publish!” González complained. The engine of the van rumbled to life, and he did up his seatbelt before putting the vehicle in gear. “I’ve got to do controlled tests and double-blind studies! There’s months of work ahead!”

Tarantella shook her head. “Dad, you said they assassinate whistle-blowers, remember? Maybe you’d better keep this to yourself.”

“Truth needs to come out,” González said firmly. “There are martyrs in any revolution.”

“I can just ask where they are,” Harry said, getting back on topic.

“You think your dad’s going to tell you?” asked Alberto.

“Not him. There’ll be other people who know,” said Harry. “And they’ll tell me anything I wanna know because if I tell Dad they were mean, they might lose their jobs. Even if they don’t, I can go anywhere I want in the whole factory. Somebody in there has to know. I’ll find out.” He was starting to sound like himself again.

“Great! We’ll go from there,” said Luca.“In the mean time, can we please stay with you, Dr. González?”

“Of course, of course,” said González. They pulled out of the parking lot onto the street. “I’ve got observations to make!”

González lived in a house not far from the university. It was far smaller than the mansion where the Waternoose family lived, no bigger than Louise’s apartment, but still larger than the Marcovaldo family home in Portorosso. The garage was big enough for two cars, although there was only one inside. The rest was full of piled-up boxes and mechanical parts. Gonzalez backed the van up as close to the door as he dared, then hustled everybody inside in the hopes the neighbours wouldn’t see.

“I’ve gotta take the van back and get my bike,” he said. “I’ll only be a few minutes. Don’t go outside, don’t go near the windows, don’t go anywhere!” He wagged a finger at them. “Tarantella! You’re in charge of making sure they don’t escape!”

“Yes, Dad,” she said tiredly, then glared at the boys. “Don’t get me wet again!”

Luca held up his hands. “We won’t!” he promised.

“As long as nobody’s gonna see us, we don’t have to,” Alberto agreed.

“Good.” Tarantella scowled.

She turned the inside lock on the door, and they closed all the blinds and shutters. Then, when they were sure nobody could see them, Helena and Giulia were able to get out of the yellow Eterminator suit. The inside of it was clearly a very warm and claustrophobic place. Both were sweaty, and took deep breaths of fresh air as they wriggled out the zipper in the back.

“It’s got a breathing system of some sort,” Helena observed, “but it’s not designed for creatures with noses where ours are!”

“Hold it!” Tarantella shouted.

Harry had been reaching for the kitchen telephone, but Tarantella was now skittering up on the counter to place herself firmly between him and it, her arms held out on either side. Harry scuttled do the left, and she did the same. He tried the right, and she kept herself in his way. They did this dance several times, until Harry gave up in frustration.

“Why can’t I use the phone?” he demanded.

“Because you’re gonna call your dad!” Tarantella replied. “Then my Dad is gonna be in trouble! He’s always talking about how anyone who tries to tell the world that humans aren’t toxic gets silenced by Big Scream, and since he was right about the humans I guess he’s right about this, too! Find a phone booth or something.”

“She’s right,” Luca realized. “The same thing will happen to Dr. González as happened to Louise and everybody. Then we’ll have four people to save instead of three.”

Harry brightened. “Then that’s a good way to find out where they are, right?”

“No, it’s not!” Luca, Alberto, Giulia, and Tarantella all spoke in unison.

“We need to make a plan,” Luca insisted.

“Right,” Alberto nodded. “You’re the idea man, Luca. How are we gonna do this?”

Luca looked around and swallowed. Everybody was looking at him expectantly, including Harry and Tarantella... and they were all counting on him. Helena and Giulia needed to get back to the human world safely. Harry needed to not get in too much trouble for running off, and to not get the rest of them in trouble by accident. Tarantella needed her father to not get thrown in jail. Daniela would be furious if he or Alberto got hurt. And now all of them were expecting Luca to figure out how to do it.

“I need a minute,” he said.

[fabledferns]

I would love to try printing my own design on a shirt like you did! Could you please possibly make a guide on how you did it?

absolutely i can!! this is gonna get a bit long so im gonna put the full tutorial under a read more LOL

ALSO disclaimer: i’m making this tutorial with the assumption that whoever is reading it already kinda knows the basics of relief printing! BUT if anyone would like me to post a more basic tutorial about that, i would be happy to <3

1. the block!! i used the Inovart Eco Karve Printing Plates (very similar to the Speedball Speedy Carve Blocks, just a bit cheaper). but you can use linoleum, wood, etc. this was my first time ever printing on fabric and since it turned out so well i’ll probably stick to using this type of block in the future LOL but linoleum and wood do work! it mostly depends on personal preference and budget

2. i highly recommend doing a test print! both to prime the block a bit and to see if there’s any spots you missed (you can see a lot of chatter on the first test print that i got rid of)

3. the ink! i used the Speedball Fabric and Paper ink. it’s the only one i’ve tried for fabric, but i do recommend the speedball brand in general! whatever ink you use, make sure it’s for block printing, for fabric, and read the instructions

when getting your ink, i found that i ended up needing a bit more ink than i do printing on paper

you can either ink your print now or on step 5 if you’re worried about it drying out

4. prepare your shirt! try to get a shirt with the least amount of texture possible for the best results (not knitted, ribbed, etc). get yourself some cardboard to put in the shirt while you print, it’s supposed to be mainly to keep ink from bleeding but i feel like it also gives a better surface to print on

5. layersssss! shirt down first, flatten out where you want to print. then the block, and if you’re using a press, then the felt thing (it probably has a name)

usually printing on paper the block is laid down and the paper on top of it, fabric is the opposite!

6. printing! so for this i am obviously using a press (the Woodzilla Hand Press, highly recommend if you’re really getting into printmaking and have the money!!) if you’re using the press, after putting the top down, tuck the shirt under the lever. otherwise it’ll make marks in the shirt when you press down that will probably go away, but better safe than sorry

if you don’t have a press, no worries!! it just takes a bit more time and patience. use an old rolling pin or put a giant book on top and press! the bigger the print, the harder it is to print consistently. do your best to add enough pressure and make it even. even with the press, i usually put all my body weight into it

whatever method you’re using, use ALL YOUR MIGHT to print it!!!! too much pressure is better than not enough imo

7. TADA!! a (hopefully) perfect print!! if it’s not, don’t panic! i can’t attest for other brands, but ive been able to clean the ink out of misprinted shirts and print on them again. i washed them out in the sink to get as much ink out as possible (i used cold water, but to be so honest i have no idea if hot or cold water would work better). then use some sort of stain remover and just fucking. douse it. i used a Shout! spray for this. let it sit for however long the instructions say, wash it, and it should come out! it even worked for a light pink shirt for me, i can’t say for sure if it would work with white though

and that’s my guide!! hopefully i explained everything alright and people find it helpful <3 i’m happy to answer any other questions anyone might have! i am also pretty new to this though, so there is definitely some stuff i don’t know lol

[jav-uni]

Hi! Regarding Ozempic, I ALSO ended up in the hospital

So I had a really bad leg injury 3 years ago (talking snapped leg in half, compound fracture) & because of it I basically had to relearn to walk. And to this day, I still can’t do a squat, run, or go up an incline… it just hurts (I’m sure I could if I put my mind to it but like I’m not much of a hiker anyway or runner so that’s not critical to me haha).

Anyway, I was pretty down / depressed & I gained a lot of weight. I mean like I went from 150 to close to 200 pounds. So even though I don’t have diabetes, my doctor (who is a true weight management specialist, specializing in diabetes) recommended me to try it after I explained I’d been doing water aerobics for 6 months, changed eating habits with no luck. She said I’m young (25, was 24 at the time), healthy, it would help my eating habits and probably benefit me.

Unfortunately, I had a horrible reaction and I couldn’t keep ANYTHING down, not even water and I had to go to the hospital because I was losing consciousness from how dizzy and dehydrated I was. I even spent the height because of the fluids I needed.

From what I’ve noticed, people taking this drug “recreationally” (for lack of a better term) just for weight loss, normalize the vomiting / throwing up. Basically they’re giving themselves an eating disorder and once they’re on it, they’re scared to get off because of how easy it is to gain weight back.

Long story short - I lost all the weight (I’m down to 130) but I didn’t lose it in a healthy way. And to this day my stomach is still not back to normal and I’ve been off of the medication for about a year. It paralyzed my stomach & I’ll probably never eat normal again.

I would strongly advise EVERYONE to try working out first (which I did, but working out hurt), try to change your eating habits. Because even though I lost weight, it’s not worth it.

Wow. I have no words. Thank you so much for trusting me to share your story, and I am really sorry about what you've been through.

[spngi]

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over |part 6 charles leclerc x singer!reader

Warnings: wrong English grammar, mentions of cheating, The songs mentioned do not belong to me and I am providing the link to the songs here!

In which charles and y/n have always known each other, but not everything goes as planned

part one| part two| part three| part four| part five

y/ninsta

No words to explain what it was like to record this new album! Thank you to everyone involved, this album is the best thing that could have happened!!! I hope you love him the way I do, he will always have my heart! Available on the platforms tomorrow 🫶🏻

User1 the cover omg 😱

User2 this hoe can’t forget Charles???

Pierregasly can’t wait for it

Yourbff probably this will make me cry but ok

User3 omg I wasn’t expecting this

- I don’t betray you - Charles sounds altered by the walls of the house.

- You didn’t even have to, Charles! You were in love with her! How did you want me to feel? - I answer him angry. - You were falling in love with her right in front of me, you didn’t have to betray me to make me feel betrayed.

- I don’t...

- You don’t have to deny it, Charles. I saw, right in front of me, you fell in love with her and even if I tried, and I tried a lot to ignore it... it was extremely visible.

- But I’ve always loved you - charles retorts.

- And I you, but you still hurt me. You act as if I had abandoned you, but staying here, staying and seeing you falling in love with her would destroy me, more than ever destroyed both of us....

He sits, on the sofa opposite my position in the living room, a whole cliff between us, we are like this, each one in a corner of the room thinking about what life has brought to us. It would be easier to abandon the presence of the other if everything were so simple, but it never was, not for us. We spent a long time like this, minutes, hours, the sun disappears through the open windows and brings the breeze into the empty apartment that I call mine.

- I love you, I never stopped loving you... - Charles speaks at some point after so much silence.

- I love you

Gp of France 2022

- Charlie, how are you? - I whisper to the phone.

- Cherie... - charles sighs on the other side of the line - terrible - he concludes, after his dnf in France.

- Are you at home? - I hear your agonized voice on the phone and answer your question. - Go to the piano, I’m sending you some ideas by message

- Charles - I try to interrupt your thinking but Charles insists.

- I have this melody in my head, love... but the words, you have always been better with them than me, but these words are for you what I need to say to you - he speaks very fast, stuck in suffering.

- Okay, I’m on the piano - I whisper to him - talk about your idea.

He speaks, hoarse voice on the phone, his thoughts everywhere, I hear his crying on the phone, I would like to be in France with him and be able to dry all the tears running from his eyes. He vents, although he expected him to talk about the championship and Ferrari, he talks about us, apologizes to me, opens his whole heart to me all night long.

When the sun appears through the windows, Charles is still on the phone and maybe one day everything would return to normal.

There is a huge echo resonating through the walls of the rented apartment that I am in Monaco. Charles left half a bottle of whiskey behind. There are many words resounding through my head, there is a lot of resentment behind all the words and the voice of the leclerc continues to open its way to my ramblings.

Monaco is electrifying under my windows, and I can’t help but remember every memory we conquered on every street in this city. The streets that charles taught me to drive, or the street with the small market that was near our apartment, the times we tried to sneak around the corners of the city to be able to have our time alone, all the memories terrifie me showing me how much I’m losing and that every minute that passes I’m late to have charles again.

- I missed you - I speak hugging Charles’ hot body.

- I missed you, cherie - charles understands what I said, it’s not a simple I missed you while I was traveling, it’s the lack of all this time apart, it’s the way we say we miss everything we’ve lost in the meantime.

I’m in his apartment, it’s not the same we used to share when we were dating but it smells like charles and that’s comforting. He looks into my eyes, faces my soul, I face the space between us and throw myself into his arms, no longer putting up with all this distance between us.

Charles’ hands pull me closer to his body, I breathe his smell, the smell I chased every day after we finished, the cozy smell of home.

Being with Charles is as if life was light, I remember all the problems that hit us while we were together and even so everything remained easy because we had each other, and now everything hurts when we are far from each other. I cling more to his body and feel his hands in my hair, he smells them wanting to remember the aroma and I know exactly how it is, because the aroma that surrounds me smells like home.

I’m lying on the soft carpet of the studio, glass of whiskey next to me, Charles is sitting relaxed in the chair in front of me, laughing alone after the doses of alcohol, I can’t help the huge smile on my face.

We are having a night break after toasting our neurons recording some songs and trying new melodies.

- I love the vocal you did in fallin - charles babbleds after a time of silence. I look at him, big eyes scared not waiting for him to have heard the songs of my post- charles.

- What? It’s a very good song, it’s on my playlist.

- I just didn’t expect you to have listened to them... - I stand face down on the carpet looking at him and listen to his soft laugh.

- I listened to them all dear, and I loved them all... - he smiles and I see his eyes traveling. - I listened to them for a long time after you moved... I kept looking for you everywhere so at least I heard your voice

I look at Charles and see the pain in his eyes, he doesn’t need to say what happened, I know. Because in the same way that I moved to London so as not to be persecuted by our memories, he moved from our house, the house we used to live. I know he was looking for me next to him in the car or in bed the same way I did, or the times I held myself so as not to call after an accident on f1 and how I waited for his call after the day I crashed my car.

- I’m happy you’re here, Charles - I whisper to him. - You left a huge hole in me, which only you know how to fill.

[ladysomething]

Well, I lasted three update emails. I was holding out on starting your new fic so I could binge a lot of chapters at once, but after getting the update email today I just couldn’t wait and to no one’s surprise, I loved every minute of it! Such an interesting world you’ve created and it’s only going to get better (for us, for Charles who knows).

I do have to ask since I’m not a fic writer - when you say you’re expecting this to be around 150-180k is that daunting for you as a writer or exciting? Right now you’re averaging around 8,000 words a chapter so with that average that’s around 20 chapters and with possible (please don’t view this as pressure) weekly updates that’s 20ish weeks of fic! I’m always so curious if this seems overwhelming to writers? I know as a reader it’s so damn exciting.

lol can you tell I’m a numbers girl and not a writer?

ah thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it, and I totally understand the urge to want to wait. I'm excited you're coming along on the journey anyway!

moving on to your question, I'll try to be succinct but to nobody's surprise I am an absolute yapper so it probably will be a long and winding answer.

I think firstly, you kind of almost explained it yourself, but in the opposite way. I'm a writer, not a numbers girl haha. I personally (though other writers may have different experiences) don't really think about how many chapters it will be, or how many weeks of uploads, so there is really no opportunity for it to be daunting because it doesn't really enter my mind.

The outline I have for this fic IS broken into chapters, but I already am not sticking to it. When I'm writing, I often explore a scene in much more detail (and therefore many more words) that I expected when writing the note for scene. e.g. today's chapter was like "1. Charles goes into pre-heat 2. max claims Charles 3. Pierre shows up" and then it ended up being 10k. I just finished writing chapter 6, which is also at 10k, and I've ended up having to shift half of what I outlined for chapter 6 into chapter 7 because I found a natural end point and I didn't want to end up with a 20k chapter.

so, for me at least, when I write I make a lot of decisions based on my instincts. does this scene need more, or is it dragging? is this chapter complete, or does more need to be added? is there too much in this chapter, and should I split it?

all of which is to say - my estimate of 150-180k is based on how much I have written so far (55k) and at what point in the story am I up to (I honestly don't think act 1 is done yet). I suspect my estimate of 150-180k is very low, and it's not getting to that word count that's daunting, because it's not what I'm actually working towards.

what IS daunting is trying to tell the story itself. are the characters right? are their intentions coming through? am I hiding what I want to hide? do I have a note of plot I've started at the beginning so I make sure I follow it through to the end? working towards answering those questions is what I'm thinking about, and that is always daunting, no matter whether its 10k or 200k (though.... PWP is always fairly mindless hahaha).

but it IS exciting. especially when people love something. I've written a lot of fic in my time, long and short, complete and not complete, and I can absolutely guarantee that the difference between exciting and daunting is how people react. when people love something ... the nerves are there, but they're eclipsed by the sheer joy of knowing you brought a smile to somebody's face with your writing.

not to get sappy, but I whole-heartedly believe that my purpose on this earth is to make people happy through my writing. if I know that I'm doing that, I could write 200k fic after 200k fic and die a happy woman.

I hope that kind of answered your question anon! long and winding, but fairly thorough? haha